Eritrea called for all men in the country to marry at least two wives and the government assured the men that it would pay for the marriage ceremonies and houses.
The order was stamped in a statement in Arabic by the Grand Mufti (the highest official of religious law in the country) and was recently leaked on social media.
The government insisted that their men must marry more than one wife or face the or face a jail term.
The order was promulgated as a result of an acute shortage of men caused by causalities during the civil war with Ethiopia.
Afkinsider.com said the document, which could not be independently verified, warned that any man or woman who opposes the decision “will face a life sentence”.
The document, written in Arabic reads: “Based on the law of God in polygamy, and given the circumstances 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.”
More than 150,000 Eritrean soldiers were killed during the secession war from Ethiopia between 1998 and 2000. At the time, Eritrea had about four million people.
Discover more from NewsBreakers
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.