This archive report was first published on 11 July 2020.
On July 11, 2020, Kenya took a significant step to combat the spread of the coronavirus by launching online marriage services.
State Law Office Chief Administrative Secretary Winnie Guchu announced that couples intending to get married will now have to register and complete the entire process online through the eCitizen portal.
"There will be no more manual services at the registrar of marriage at Sheria House as all services will be available online," she said.
Before the Covid-19 outbreak, Sheria House used to attend to about 400 clients during low season and 600 clients during the high season months of August and December.
However, when marriage services briefly resumed in mid-May, 1,841 couples, whose marriages were suspended, wanted to proceed with their civil wedding, a move that Ms Guchu said brought enormous challenges at the office of the registrar of marriage.
"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.
