Six jailed two years for forging national registration cards

The Lusaka Magistrate Court on Thursday convicted and sentenced six people to two years imprisonment with hard labour each for forgery of National Registration Cards.

Those sentenced are Zambian nationals Brave Nsamba, 42, Nduli Kakoma, 46, Jack Banda, 61, and Ephraim Chiyobeka, 53, together with Kenyan nationals Moses Mululu, 57, and Hosea Kinuthia Kiai, 23.

Department of Immigration Chief Public Relations Officer, Namati Nshinka, confirmed this in a statement issued in Lusaka on Friday.

The two Kenyan nationals were additionally convicted of unlawful stay and fined K15,000 each, or in default of payment, six months simple imprisonment.

The case followed investigations launched by the Department of Immigration on 24th July 2025 after Hosea Kinuthia Kiai was apprehended during a routine compliance operation in Chipata’s Central Business District.

Nshinka said the Kiai had claimed to be a Zambian citizen and produced a Green National Registration Card.

“However, checks on the Zambia Immigration Management System established that he was a Kenyan passport holder, while the Department of National Registration, Passport and Citizenship confirmed that the NRC belonged to another person,” he said.

Nshinka said further investigations led to the arrest of fellow Kenyan, Moses Mululu in Mkushi, who was also found with another person’s NRC after falsely claiming Zambian citizenship.

Investigators later apprehended Jack Banda and Nduli Kakoma in Lusaka before tracing the operation to Ephraim Chiyobeka.

At Chiyobeka’s residence, officers recovered materials used in the illegal production of NRCs, including authentic laminating pouches, blank and forged National Registration Cards, passport photographs and academic certificates.

The final suspect, Brave Nsamba, an Assistant Registration Officer based at the Mansa District National Registration Office, was arrested for allegedly supplying materials used in the production of the forged NRCs.

Investigations established that the syndicate had been fraudulently obtaining and producing National Registration Cards for foreign nationals at a fee.

“Upon conclusion of investigations, the matter was submitted to the National Prosecutions Authority. The six were jointly charged with forgery, while the two Kenyans faced an additional charge of unlawful stay,” Nshinka said.

He warned that the fraudulent acquisition, manufacture, possession or use of National Registration Cards undermines the integrity of the country’s civil registration system, facilitates illegal immigration and organised crime, and threatened national security.

Nshinka urged members of the public to report suspected cases involving forged National Registration Cards or other immigration-related offences to the nearest Immigration Office or any law enforcement agency.

WARNING! All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express permission from ZAMBIA MONITOR.