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Zambia’s Department of Immigration has secured the conviction of a 30-year-old Zimbabwean national for providing false information to an immigration officer and concealing his true nationality, while apprehending 64 foreign nationals during operations in Lusaka, Ndola and Kafue.
Kudakwashe Denise Mutsetse was convicted on September 18 by the Lusaka Magistrates’ Court and fined a combined K60,000 for the two offences, or 12 months’ simple imprisonment in default.
Mutsetse has since paid the fine and will be deported from Zambia, Department of Immigration Chief Public Relations Officer Namati Nshinka said in a statement issued in Lusaka on Monday.
Mutsetse was apprehended on August 27 in Lusaka’s Panganani Township following investigations into his nationality. During the operation, he produced a Zambian National Registration Card and Birth Certificate as proof of his claimed Zambian nationality.
Nshinka said verification through the Zambia Immigration Management System established that Mutsetse was a Zimbabwean national who had previously entered Zambia in 2019 using a Zimbabwean passport and later obtained a Temporary Permit using the same passport.
Meanwhile, the Ndola Regional Immigration Office apprehended 25 foreign nationals on September 19 during operations in Lubuto, Kabushi, Mushili, Industrial Area and Urungu.
“Following preliminary screening, nineteen persons were detained, comprising eleven Tanzanians, one Eritrean and seven Somali refugees,” Nshinka said.
Read More: 165 detained in Lusaka Immigration sweep, more arrests recorded in Ndola
In Lusaka, immigration officers apprehended 23 foreign nationals during operations conducted on Sept. 18 and Sept. 20 in Kalingalinga, Mutendere, Nyumba Yanga and Kanyama.
Two Zimbabwean students, aged 23 and 28, were apprehended at Atletico Lusaka Sports Complex on suspicion of engaging in unauthorised immigration consultancy activities.
Nshinka said the two were allegedly processing study permits for fellow students at the university.
The two are students at Cavendish University, and investigations into the alleged unauthorised immigration consultancy activities are ongoing.
In Kafue, the department apprehended 16 foreign nationals aged between 16 and 44 during a routine operation on Sept. 20 in Kafue Town, Chalala and Lilayi.
“At the time of apprehension, fifteen were not in possession of passports, travel documents or immigration permits, while the Egyptian national was found with an expired Temporary Permit,” Nshinka said.
The 16 are being detained at Kafue Police Station pending screening to establish their individual immigration status and whether any offences had been committed.
Nshinka urged foreign nationals to ensure their immigration status and documentation remained valid at all times and called on members of the public to desist from facilitating violations of immigration laws.
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