At least 12 pre-marital counselling sessions are needed before getting married if the proposed guidelines by the Council of Marriage Officers in Eswatini are adopted.
The proposal comes amid concerns over the number of divorces recorded in the country, with 164 cases reported during the last quarter.
Council of Marriage Officers in Eswatini Chairperson Mduduzi Mamba said the council wanted to make it compulsory for marriage officers to engage couples in pre-marital counselling before officiating their marriages.
Mamba said the council had already drafted its Constitution, Code of Ethics and Guidelines to govern the operations of marriage officers.
He said the council was now concluding meetings with marriage officers to allow them to make inputs into the draft documents before they are endorsed.
He said making pre-marital counselling compulsory was among the provisions contained in the draft Constitution.
Mamba said the proposal was part of efforts to reduce the divorce rate in the country, describing the number of divorce cases as alarming.
He said the initiative would ensure that people getting married, whether under Swazi Law and Custom or Civil Rights, had someone they trusted to take them through marital counselling.
Mamba said the proposed programme would involve at least 12 sessions covering issues such as communication, finances, children born out of wedlock and sexual fellowship.
He said each session should last for at least an hour.
He said the 12 sessions could be completed according to the agreement between couples and their marriage officer, as well as their availability.
Some sessions could take place over a period of three months, he said, stressing that the important thing was for couples to undergo pre-marital counselling several months before their wedding.
Mamba said those intending to undertake kuteka could also approach pastors for pre-marital counseling.
“We encourage those who do Swazi Law and Custom to also do the pre-marital counselling sessions too, even though their case can be tricky. The draft documents we are talking about are for the Civil Rights kind of marriage,” he said.
Mamba appreciated the ministry of home affairs for collecting data and developing documents that would govern marriage officers.
He said the council would visit the Shiselweni region on Wednesday to meet with marriage officers before proceeding to the Lubombo region.
“In the Hhohho region, we met with 70 marriage officers and they made inputs to the drafts. Some of them asked about the sessions and who was going to pay them for them. We engaged those from Manzini and they have made inputs.
“This exercise will help us know the location of the marriage officers, who they are and how many they are per region. We want to also educate them as they are critical in building homes. It might be hard for us to bring each other to order, but the guidelines will assist us once endorsed,” he said.
