British Embassy Dismisses As Fake Another Letter Shared Online

The United Kingdom embassy in Harare has dismissed as fake a document being shared online pretending to show a British government letter written in 2009.

This comes after another document was shared widely on Friday purportedly written by the UK government in 2001. In a message posted on its Twitter handle, the UK embassy said:

We’ve been alerted to another fake document being shared online, this time pretending to show a UK government letter written in 2009. We urge you not to share.

While the UK embassy did not identify the latest fake document, ZANU PF activists have been sharing on social media platforms a document dated 2009. Below is the document:

30 October 2009

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[CONFIDENTIAL by Internal Mail]

Dear Mr Miliband,

Further to your request at the meeting with Zimbabwe Prime Minister, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, we have attached the financial statement of funding to civil society organisations in Zimbabwe for September.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has met recently with Dr Alex Magaisa who is chairperson of the Zimbabwe Diaspora Development Interface (ZDDI), an organisation whose objectives are in line with our national and international objectives.

I have also attached a list of trustees in the organisation whom we have met with or are mentioned in the documents.

We have been funding the organisation as part of the wider initiative of funding civil society organisations to promote change in Zimbabwe.

We believe civil society has a much greater role in the transformation of Zimbabwe. Britain, as a former colony, cannot be seen interfering directly to effect regime change.

Other organisations that have been identified and funded include Global Zimbabwe Forum, Trust Africa and Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa.