The Office of the Attorney General has launched online marriage services in the wake of coronavirus pandemic.
The new system seeks to cut off human traffic at Sheria House where marriage-related issues were handled including officiating marriages.
According to the Chief Administrative Secretary at the State Law Office Winnie Gichu, registration of marriages will be done via the eCitizen portal.
Guchu while addressing the press said no one will be allowed to the precincts unless “the issue is of utmost importance”.
“There will be no more manual services at the registrar of marriage at Sheria House as all services will be available online.
“We do not want any couple coming for services at Sheria House unless it is of utmost importance,” she said.
Sheria House was one of the high-risk areas due to human traffic all through as Kenyans sought to register their intention of marriage and also exchange vows.
These services were suspended in May. 2,551 planned marriages were put on hold.
Guchu at the time said that about between 400-600 people visit the offices daily.
The peak seasons are between August and December.
Guchu added that when the office temporarily resumed, about 1,800 couples wanted to have a civil wedding immediately which meant that the registrar of marriages would be overwhelmed.
“When we resumed, only 700 couples were willing to postpone their weddings however we were left with a bulk of 1,841 couples. We are hoping that more people will postpone their weddings so we can manage the numbers,” she said.
Moving forward, those seeking to wed have been asked to book through the eCitizen portal.
They will upload their details on the portal, pay a standard marriage fee, book for a pre-wedding interview and get an appointment date for the wedding.
“After completion of registration on the platform, couples will still be given 21-days’ notice for approval just as it was in the manual process. However, this process will be first rolled out in Nairobi, and thereafter in other counties after the platform takes root,” the CAS added.
