The Burundian government on Friday, has given unmarried couples until the end of the year to legalise their relationships.

The order, Punch reports, is part of efforts to reform morals in the country.

The order follows the launch of a campaign this month by President Pierre Nkurunziza “to moralise society” in the tiny nation which, for two years, has been in the grip of sometimes violent political upheaval.

Interior ministry spokesman, Terence Ntahiraja said the country was facing a population explosion which he blamed on “illegal marriages,” polygamy, bigamy and “hundreds of schoolgirls getting pregnant.”

To enact the president’s orders, officials have begun organising mass weddings.