A satirical story that Eritrean men have been ordered to marry at least two wives, which has been shared across Africa, has upset Eritrean officials.<\/p>\n
“Even a madman in [the Eritrean capital] Asmara would know that this story was not true,” an Eritrean official told the BBC.<\/p>\n
The hoax was first published online on a Kenyan news site called Crazy Monday.<\/p>\n
Some men have commented on Twitter that they are ready to travel to Eritrea to find a new wife.<\/p>\n
Crazy Monday, which is published by the Standard newspaper, is well known for its focus on scandalous stories and gossip as part of an attempt to attract a younger readership, says Mathias Muindi from the BBC’s media monitoring service.<\/p>\n
But this has not stopped it being reported in many countries from Nigeria to South Africa, with some suggesting that it was true.<\/p>\n
The story said that to make up for the shortage of men in the country, following the civil war with Ethiopia from 1998-2000, every man must marry at least two women or face imprisonment.<\/p>\n
It has been trending on Twitter in Nigeria, and other countries, for several days with people sharing links to the Eritrea’s visa application documents.<\/p>\n
Eritrea’s Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel tweeted that “the media frenzy to parrot this ludicrous, fabricated and trite story… is appalling”.<\/p>\n
One news website, Sahara Reporters, has retracted the story acknowledging that it was false.<\/p>\n
In another tweet Mr Yemane said “the story illustrates [the] vileness of the dark forces of disinformation and proclivity of others to readily embrace the negative narrative on Eritrea”.<\/p>\n
The New York-based group Human Rights Watch says that there is a “dismal human rights situation” in Eritrea and the restrictions there, including on the freedom of expression, have led some to call it the North Korea of Africa.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A satirical story that Eritrean men have been ordered to marry at least two wives, which has been shared across Africa, has upset Eritrean officials. “Even a madman in [the Eritrean capital] Asmara would know that this story was not true,” an Eritrean official told the BBC. The hoax was first published online on a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n