Burundian president warns couples for failing to legalize marriages by end of 2017

BUJUMBURA, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza on Friday pledged sanctions against polygamous people who failed to legalize their marriages before the deadline set on Dec. 31.

"The law doesn't allow polygamy in Burundi. Therefore, people who will not have legalized their marriages before the end of this year will be sanctioned according to the law," said Nkurunziza during a live radio program held in the northern town of Kayanza.

A polygamous man can have many wives with over 30 children who are not registered anywhere, which makes Burundi having wrong statistics of its population, said the president. Those who are not registered are not taken into consideration in the country's development projects, he said.

"With the implementation of the 'one man, one wife' policy, we will be able to control the population growth," he added.

During the celebration of the International Labor Day on May 1 this year, Nkurunziza announced that polygamy or having concubines is not allowed, adding that all couples should have legalized their marriages by the end of the year.

Muslim groups, however, opposed the measure, arguing that their religion allows them to marry many wives.

After the announcement of the law, Burundian minister of interior Pascal Barandagiye said that polygamous men should leave their wives and keep only one, preferably the first wife. Enditem