Bogus immigration officer trial postponed

A SUSPECTED bogus immigration officer, believed to be part of a syndicate using fake date stamps to clear travellers and goods between Zimbabwe and South Africa, is set to stand trial on April 4 at the Beitbridge Magistrates’ Court.

Mutamba Jikicha (31) was allegedly caught in possession of two fake Zimbabwean immigration stamps and one counterfeit South African immigration stamp, which he used to process travel documents from what he claimed to be an immigration office.

Jikicha was arrested on March 22 after he allegedly facilitated the illegal clearance of two travellers between the two countries.

He is also facing a charge of resisting arrest after attempting to evade police detectives who approached him at his place of operation.

Jikicha appeared before Beitbridge magistrate, Ms Annia Chimweta, who remanded him out of custody on US$200 bail, pending trial.

He faces multiple charges, including forgery, possession of articles to commit a crime and resisting arrest.

The prosecutor, Mr Claudius Karinga told the court that Jikicha had been illegally processing travel documents for unsuspecting travellers using fake immigration date stamps.

Acting on a tip-off, police detectives tracked Jikicha to his house in Dulivhadzimu suburb, where they recovered two fake Zimbabwean immigration stamps, a counterfeit South African immigration stamp and two valid Zimbabwean passports he had illegally endorsed. They also found another passport belonging to a woman, Violet Bangira, in his possession.

Of late there has been an increase in cases of individuals using counterfeit immigration and customs stamps to facilitate the illegal movement of goods and people between Zimbabwe and South Africa.

In response, the Department of Immigration has deployed a regional compliance and enforcement unit at Beitbridge Border Post to combat issues such as child smuggling and irregular migration. Over the past five years, security agencies have arrested more than 20 suspects and recovered over 60 fake immigration stamps in Beitbridge alone.