Fact Check: Did the King invite foreigners to fill out men shortage in Eswatini? - ZimFact
Ngoni Mhuruyengwe
March 17, 2024
Claim: An X (Twitter) post by @FonyokaPondoka, a South African social media influencer, contains  a circular dated 8 March 2024 allegedly from the Government of Eswatini inviting  men from Southern Africa to apply for citizenship due to a shortage of marriage partners for women in the Royal Kingdom.
The message was also posted by Ali Naka, an active Zimbabwean social media commentator, on his X platform, buttressing the claim and receiving 59,000 views.
The message attributed to the King reads in part: “1, King Mswati III, the King of Swaziland, invite citizens from Southern African Nations to apply for nationality in my land, therefore, here’s the deal, marry at least five wives and you’re assured that my government will pay for the marriage ceremonies and buy houses for you.”
Is this true or false
Verdict: False
To verify this claim, this fact-checker (Chido Luciasi) ran a reverse image-search of the circular and discovered some red flags, which rendered it false.
The icon of the lion and elephant in the logo is visually different from the official coat of arms of the Kingdom of Eswatini. While the coat of arms has a brown coloured lion and grey coloured elephant, the manipulated one had a peach-coloured lion with red mane and a red-coloured elephant.
Additionally, the official coat of arms contains a white ribbon with the word ‘SIYINQABA’, the ribbon in the manipulated one is coloured yellow.
The fake circular addressed the monarchy as Swaziland. The kingdom has since changed its name to Eswatini in 2018.
The signature ascribed to King Mswati III actually belongs to Prof. Jacob T. Kaimenyi, a  former Cabinet Secretary of the Kenyan Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.
The government of the Kingdom of Eswatini put out a fake information alert dismissing the circular as false through their official X account  on 10 March 2024.
Evidence presented in this fact check shows that the claim alleging the kingdom of Eswatini invited interested applicants in Southern African Nations to apply for citizenship following a reported shortage of men is false as it is based on fabricated content.
Author: Chido R. Luciasi
Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini official X account
The Government of Kenya, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Education and Training Sector Gender Policy
Google Reverse Image search
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