There are 39 of them, including two polygamous couples, to say yes to each other before the civil authorities of the commune of Saaba in Ouagadougou. This collective wedding was organized, on Thursday, December 19, 2024, by the association Support for vulnerable children and women, chaired by Pauline Nana née Nana.
This collective marriage was sponsored by the president of the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), Gonta Alida Henriette Da, and Idrissa Nassa, president of the National Council of Burkinabè Employers as co-sponsor. After this celebration, each couple left with two 50kg bags of rice and a gas bottle.
“My association is an association which works for the development of children, women and everyone. Being in the fight against gender-based violence, I decided to support couples in regularizing their situation,” says the president of the Support for Vulnerable Children and Women association, Pauline Nana. Listening to him speak, this initiative started from the fact that people want to regularize their situations but are unable to do so due to lack of means. “So I took the initiative to help them and, with the help of goodwill, we called everyone who was interested to take part,” explains Ms. Nana.
According to her, the godmother spent all her time giving advice to the bride and groom before the wedding, because she is a marriage counselor. And she urges all couples to stay united so that this marriage is a model for the entire commune of Saaba and all of Burkina Faso, because according to her, the lack of understanding in a couple is a suffering for the whole of society.
“We noticed that when the couple is not based on a marriage bond, they experience more violence. It is in the face of this sad observation of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) that this woman dared to organize this collective marriage. Many want to get married, but they don't have the means and they are also afraid of the festive aspects, so she said to herself: why not organize a collective wedding to allow all these people to be united by a legal marriage ? And when she approached me, as a defender of human rights and protector of families, I did not hesitate to accompany this lady,” declares the president of the CNDH, Gonta Alida Henriette, godmother of the ceremony. She explains that this is a way for her to contribute to the fight against terrorism. “If an aware father is in a legal marriage bond and assumes his responsibilities as a father, we will not see a mother tired of household expenses and going to join the terrorists to enrich herself. It is with the aim of supporting President Ibrahim Traoré in this fight against terrorism that we, human rights defenders, wanted to organize this wedding under the theme: For better protection of our families, let us be united by the bonds of marriage “. She greeted all the people who wanted to accompany the wedding, such as Idrissa Nassa, Vivo Energie, Coca Cola, the Mother Theresa association.
“I am polygamous, I have three wives. I had made a legal marriage with my first wife, 12 years ago, and I did not hesitate to seize the opportunity by bringing my two other wives before the mayor for the wedding when Madame Nana called everyone who is interested in civil marriage. I am very happy and I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart Ms. Nana and the godmother who decided to accompany this wedding. I also salute Idrissa Nassa, Chairman and CEO of Coris Banque who did not hesitate to accompany our godmother. I urge all men to have civil marriages, because we all know that it is profitable and secures homes. And I also take this opportunity to tell women to give respect to their husbands in order to have blessed children,” said Basm Yam Naaba Tigré from Saaba, a newlywed.
Rachidatou Démé (intern)
Lefaso.net
