Did the UN Secretary General Congratulate Mnangagwa?

Did the UN Secretary General Congratulate Mnangagwa?

Questions are being asked about whether the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres really sent a congratulatory message to Zanu-PF's Mnangagwa.

SADC Reject Zimbabwe Elections

In August, the United Nations issued a statement that the UN Secretary General was following events in Zimbabwe and urged peaceful resolution of any electoral disputes.

Secretary-General @antonioguterres is closely following developments in Zimbabwe's elections. He is concerned about the arrest of observers, reports of voter intimidation, threats of violence, harassment and coercion. Full statement: https://t.co/9BZnHbFvvn

— UN Spokesperson (@UN_Spokesperson) August 27, 2023

The SADC, AU, EU and Commonwealth have since discredited the elections.

Only 3 sitting heads of State dared to show up for Mnangagwa's hastily arranged inauguration.

Shockingly, a letter purportedly from the UN SG surfaced and it was allegedly congratulating Mnangagwa but noting the gender imbalance in Zimbabwean politics.

.@UN Chief @antonioguterres congratulates HE @edmnangagwa on his reelection as President of the Republic of #Zimbabwe & noted the country’s efforts to advance political participation of women. He encouraged the President to promote gender parity in Cabinet & snr appointments pic.twitter.com/etFZkUEkSq

— UN Zimbabwe (@UNZimbabwe) September 9, 2023

This prompted Citizens to ask what had changed in the few days. The Zimbabwean netizens spent the weekend trying to verify the authenticity of the letter.

Did the UN Secretary General Congratulate Mnangagwa?

The letter which had no letterhead, was not backed by any statement issued on the UN website as is the norm. It was only found on the UN Zimbabwe Twitter (X) handle.

Even the UN SG himself Antonio Guteres who usually uses his own Twitter (X) handle for such issues, did not post anything about it.