FACT-CHECK: Trending Photo Of Zimbabwe President Driving African Leaders To Queen Elizabeth’s Funeral Is FALSE

A trending social media photo supposedly showing the President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, driving his African counterparts in bus to the funeral venue of Queen Elizabeth II is FALSE, THE WHISTLER can report.

A Facebook user, Patrick Honnah, on Monday shared the four photos including one that showed Mnangagwa sitting on a driver’s seat.

He wrote, “PHOTO STORY: US president’s official car, ‘The Beast’ was flown to London for US President Joe Biden’s use while African Presidents were driven by a bus by Zimbabwean President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, to attend Queen Elizabeth II’s burial in London.”

Another Facebook user, Nkwain Sam, floated the same picture, saying the Zimbabwe president drove other African leaders to the queen’s funeral holding on Monday.

He wrote, “African Presidents were driven in a bus. Driver: Zimbabwean President, Emmerson Mnangagwa. They all went to attend Queen Elizabeth II’s burial in London.”

Several other Facebook and Twitter users shared the photo using the caption.

THE WHISTLER CHECKS

This website did a reverse image search of the photo on Google and found that the same image was posted on the website of Nehanda Radio, a Zimbabwean radio station , on April 17, 2019.

Information on the website showed that the Zimbabwean president sat on the driver’s seat while commissioning 39 out of 300 buses rolled out by the country’s government to support public transport system.

When THE WHISTLER passed the picture through Tin Eye, an image verification site, our fact checker confirmed that the image was first published in 2019.

VERDICT:

The picture used to depict Zimbabwe president driving other African leaders to the queen’s funeral on Monday is FALSE.