The Mpika Immigration Office, on January 12, 2024, secured the conviction of two Pakistani nationals, Muhammad Saleem 49, and Haroon 20, for failing to appear before the nearest immigration officer upon entry into Zambia.
The duo was nabbed on January 3, 2024 at Mpika Checkpoint aboard a Lusaka-bound Juldan Public Service Bus during a routine immigration status verification exercise.
The Officers discovered the duo’s passports had no entry endorsement stamps from Nakonde Border Control.
On January 12, 2024 the Mpika Magistrate Court convicted and sentenced them to a fine of K 20,000 each or nine months simple imprisonment.
Similarly, the Kapiri Mposhi Immigration Office on 12th January 2024 secured the conviction of three Congolese nationals, Mechack Banza(25), Oscar Kailu (32), and Amani Musolo (24) for unlawful stay.
The trio was nabbed on January 9, 2024 at Lwanshimba Checkpoint aboard a Lusaka-bound Public Service Bus during a routine immigration status verification exercise.
Banza and Kailu were each sentenced to pay a fine of K 10,100 or nine months simple imprisonment while Musolo was fined K 10,000 or nine months simple imprisonment.
Further, the Livingstone Regional Immigration Office, on January 12, 2024, secured the conviction of a 36-year-old Congolese, Ndjate Osango, for knowingly using and having a refugee movement pass
He was arrested on December 20, 2023 in Livingstone’s Dambwa Site and Service following a tip-off from concerned members of the public. He was sentenced to pay a fine of K15,000 or, in default, nine months of simple imprisonment.
Furthermore, on 12th January 2024, the Kabwe Regional Immigration Office secured the convictions of 17 persons of different nationalities for various Immigration Offences. These included four Congolese Refugees and One Rwandese Refugee convicted and each sentenced to fines ranging from K 300 to K 5,000 or four to nine months simple imprisonment for being outside a refugee settlement without authority.
Further, four other Congolese refugees, one Burundian, and one Rwandese refugee, were convicted.
Each was sentenced to pay fines of between K 300 and K 2,000 or four and nine months of simple imprisonment for engaging in business without permits. Furthermore, two Burundians, two Rwandese, and one Congolese were convicted and each sentenced to fines ranging from K 300 to 5,000 or, in default, three to nine months simple imprisonment for unlawful stay. One Congolese national was also convicted and fined K1,000 or six months simple imprisonment for illegal entry. The Mpika, Kapiri Mposhi, Livingstone, and Kabwe Court outcomes brought the number of convictions secured by the Department of Immigration on 12th January 2024 to 34.
Meanwhile, the Department of Immigration, between 12th and 14th January 2024, apprehended 25 persons of different nationalities for various immigration offenses countrywide. During this period, the Department removed 12 illegal immigrants from the country and refused three foreign nationals entry for failing to meet entry requirements.
