Zimbabwe’s Prosecutor General (PG), Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo, has filed an appeal with the High Court against the sentence imposed on four Cameroonians recently convicted by the Beitbridge Magistrates’ Court for violating Section 36(1)(a)(iii) of the Immigration Act (Chapter 04:02).
In a statement, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said that the four individuals—Christiana Byombe Duma Ebako, Muya Muya Emile, Tegha Marvel Ngei, and Nnam Yvette Kum—pleaded guilty and received a sentence of caution and discharge.
The State believes that this sentence is shockingly lenient and does not adequately reflect the seriousness of the case. The presiding Magistrate has been cited as the fifth respondent in the appeal. Said the NPA:
Brief facts are that the accused persons were intercepted at the Beitbridge border post by Immigration Officers who asked them to produce their travel documents.
They produced Zimbabwean passports bearing their first names and photographs yet they are not Zimbabwean citizens and are not entitled to Zimbabwean passports.
Investigations revealed that the accused persons provided false information to obtain the travel documents.
Meanwhile, twelve employees from the Registrar General’s office in Harare were arrested in connection with the fraudulent issuance of passports and have since appeared before the Harare Magistrates’ Court.
More: Pindula News