24-08-2024 – The Mpika Magistrate Court on 21st August, 2024 convicted and sentenced Mohamed Abdul Ali, a 34-year-old Somali Refugee to pay a fine of K 80,000 or nine months simple imprisonment for aiding and abetting his 28-year-old compatriot Dahir Muqtar Mohamud. The Somalis who were travelling together were apprehended on 1st August, 2024 at the Mpika Checkpoint aboard a Juldan Public Service Bus heading to Lusaka from Nakonde. The duo was asked to disembark from the bus after Immigration Officers noticed inconsistencies in the Refugee documents presented by Dahir Muqtar Mohamud. Investigations later revealed that Mohamed Abdul Ali was a bonafide refugee and that he met Dahir Muqtar Mohamud in Tanzania where he offered to provide him with Refugee Documents and facilitate his travel to Lusaka at a fee. Dahir Muqtar Mohamud’s Refugee documents were later discovered to have been forged. Further, more forged documents were found in Mohamed Abdul Ali’s possession. The Isoka Immigration Office decided to charge Mohamed Abdul Ali with aiding and abetting, while Dahir Muqtar Mohamud was charged with failure to appear before the nearest Immigration Officer on entry. Dahir Muqtar Mohamud was convicted and sentenced to a fine of K 6,000 or nine-months simple imprisonment.
Further, the Serenje Immigration Office on 22nd August, 2024 secured the conviction of 11 of the 58 undocumented Ethiopians who were on 4th August, 2024 apprehended for illegal entry at Ndabala Checkpoint by a team of Immigration and Police Officers. The group was concealed in a Lusaka-bound Containerised Volvo Truck and Trailer registration numbers BBC 7457 and ALC 8826T. Nine were hidden underneath the Container in an improvised compartment near the Truck’s chassis while 49 were discovered hidden in a partitioned room at the end of the Container which could only be accessed through the roof of the Container. The eleven have each been sentenced to pay fines of between K 500 and K 3,500 or four months simple imprisonment. The other 47 who have also been charged with illegal entry will appear in court soon.
Furthermore, the Kazembe Immigration Office on 22nd August, 2024 secured the convictions of three Zambian Peasant farmers of Nchelenge District for departing from Zambia at a place other than a port of entry without a written authorisation from the Director-General of Immigration contrary to section 16(1) of the Immigration and Deportation Act No. 18 of 2010 of the Laws of Zambia. Davison Kabaso (34), Winston Matipa (21), and Sylvester Chiluba (20) were apprehended on 7th August, 2024 in the Kasakalabwe fishing camp Area during a joint operation conducted by Immigration, Police and Department of Fisheries Officers. They were each sentenced to pay a fine of K 1,200 or 30 days simple imprisonment. The trio has since been released after paying court fines.
The Isoka, Serenje and Kazembe Judgements brought the number of convictions secured by the Department of Immigration between 21st and 22nd August, 2024 to 51.
In addition, the Department of Immigration between 21st and 22nd August, 2024 apprehended 60 suspected illegal immigrants of different nationalities across the country, including 18 apprehended by the Lusaka Regional Immigration Office in a routine clean-up operation conducted on 22nd August, 2024 in Libala, Chilenje Kamwala-South, Nyumba Yanga and Bauleni.
During this period, the Department of Immigration removed 50 illegal immigrants from the country including 15 Malawians removed by the Petauke Immigration Office after paying their respective court fines for various immigration offences.
