Eritrea now asks men to marry at least two wives or face imprisonment.
Kenyans have received the news of mandatory polygamy by men in Eritrea with a mix of bewilderment and excitement.
Activists
have posted a memo allegedly by the Government of Eritrea asking men to
marry at least two wives due to acute shortage of men occasioned by
casualties during the civil war with Ethiopia.
In the statement written in Arabic assures of government support to the polygamous marriages.
The
activists translate it thus, "Based on the law of God in polygamy, and
given the circumstances in which the country is experiencing in terms of
men shortage, the Eritrean department of Religious Affairs has decided
on the following .”
First that every man shall marry at least two
women and the man who refuses to do so shall be subjected to life
imprisonment with hard labour.
“The woman who tries to prevent
her husband from marrying another wife shall be punished to life
imprisonment,” alleges the activists in their translation.
And
Kenyans have reacted to these announcements with bemusement with some
suggesting if they could change their citizenship immediately and take
advantage of the new laws in the country.
“At this rate, I can
see the Eritrea Government spreading new embassy outlets in Kakamega,
Embu, Siaya and Busia counties to help hasten visa processing,” said one
Kenyan on facebook.
“He is so so considerate of women! That's good of him,” said another.
The
Standard could not immediately authenticate the document nor the
translation and it was not clear why the statement was not in the other
two national languages, Tigrinya and Tigre.
The May 1998 to June
2000 Eritrean-Ethiopian war saw 150,000 soldiers killed from either
sides but having a bigger impact on male population in the tiny Eritrea
nation who were then just 4million people in total.
http://www.sde.co.ke/article/2000189318/eritrea-now-asks-men-to-marry-at-least-two-wives-or-face-imprisonment
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