{"id":323081,"date":"2017-05-27T15:03:11","date_gmt":"2017-05-27T15:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=323081"},"modified":"2017-05-27T15:03:11","modified_gmt":"2017-05-27T15:03:11","slug":"burundi-orders-couples-to-wed-amid-drive-to-moralise-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/05\/burundi-orders-couples-to-wed-amid-drive-to-moralise-society\/","title":{"rendered":"Burundi orders couples to wed amid drive to ‘moralise society’"},"content":{"rendered":"
Cohabiting couples in Burundi have until the end of the year to get married or face legal consequences.<\/p>\n
The government order comes after President Pierre Nkurunziza launched a campaign “to moralise society”.<\/p>\n
A government spokesman said a crackdown on informal relationships was needed to combat a population explosion.<\/p>\n
He said too many schoolgirls were getting pregnant and men were taking advantage of women by cohabiting with several simultaneously.<\/p>\n
Burundi has been in crisis since 2015 when Mr Nkurunziza, a born-again Christian, announced he would run for a controversial third term.<\/p>\n
We want order<\/strong><\/p>\n Interior ministry spokesman Terence Ntahiraja told AFP news agency that church and state-sanctioned weddings were the solution to the country’s population explosion – and a patriotic duty.<\/p>\n “We want Burundians to understand that everyone is responsible for his life, we want order in this country,” he said.<\/p>\n “All this is done within the framework of the patriotic training programme,” he said, referring to an initiative launched by President Nkurunziza.<\/p>\n It is not clear exactly what sanctions those not tying the knot will face.<\/p>\n However, one farmer quoted by AFP said local officials had already threatened him and his partner with a fine and said any child born out of wedlock would not qualify for free education or medical treatment.<\/p>\n The farmer, named only as Pierre, said he had not married because he could not afford the bride price demanded by his partner’s family.<\/p>\n Hundreds of people have since died since Mr Nkurunziza launched a bid for a third term. But the country had been relatively calm in recent months.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cohabiting couples in Burundi have until the end of the year to get married or face legal consequences. The government order comes after President Pierre Nkurunziza launched a campaign “to moralise society”. A government spokesman said a crackdown on informal relationships was needed to combat a population explosion. He said too many schoolgirls were getting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[117],"tags":[2181,3],"yoast_head":"\n