Eswatini: Africa’s last absolute monarchy speaks on reports of shortage of men in kingdom

The Kingdom of Eswatini on Sunday responded to reports circulating about the southern African nation offering citizenship to male citizens around the region because of a scarcity of men in the country.

According to BBC, the viral letter in question was supposedly written by King Mswati III – though the Eswatini government has since notified the public in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that the “circulating notice is fake.”

The Eswatini government also attached a photo of the viral letter when it shared the brief statement. The letter claimed Mswati III, the king of Eswatini, was “greatly concerned with the scarcity of men” in the kingdom and had therefore called on “citizens from Southern African Nations” to apply for citizenship in Africa’s last absolute monarchy.

The letter reportedly went viral on social media in the region, with its contents also garnering significant excitement. But whoever wrote and circulated the fake letter is unknown. Eswatini’s population currently stands at around 1.2 million.

Recently, Mswati III hosted Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley A. Botchwey at the annual Buganu festival commemorating the Marula fruit harvest, Graphic Online reported. Described as one of the biggest events of the kingdom’s national calendar, the festival was held in a large royal arena with over 30,000 dancing and singing women leaders called “Lushango”, who are usually torchbearers of the kingdom’s culture.