A PRINCIPAL immigration officer based at Nyamapanda Border Post was last Thursday arraigned before the Mutoko Magistrates Courts after she allegedly granted holiday visas to seven Chinese nationals.
The seven Chinese nationals, including a prohibited immigrant, who was detained awaiting deportation, were issued the visas in their absences.
Patience Chamboko, who is employed by the Department of Immigration, appeared before Mutoko magistrate Charity Gatsi, who granted her US$100 bail.
She was remanded to September 17 pending trial.
Appearing for the State, Vimbai Rufurwekuda alleged that on July 31 this year, Chamboko facilitated the unprocedural clearance of Lin Lou, Junhao Yu, Libo Jiang, Donghong Cao, Shu Liu, Ruizhu Fang and Xiaojun Hung.
Chamboko, through the online border management system, processed holiday visas for the Chinese nationals.
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It is alleged that on the day in question, she was head of shift and the shift members included senior immigration officers Raviroyashe Muzvidziwa and Powerman Hlekisana.
Chamboko was in charge of visa processing.
Investigations allegedly established that the Chinese nationals were not physically present at the border when their visas were processed and none of the shift members saw the travellers at the border.
According to investigations conducted by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission, it was further established that one of the nationals Xiaojun’s passport was cleared on August 31 this year.
However, on the same day, Xiaojun was being detained at Mutare Remand Prisons after having been arrested as a prohibited immigrant and is still in custody.
The State argues that this showed that the traveller was not physically at the border when the visa was processed.
It was further established that on July 31 this year, Libo was also in detention at Harare Remand Prisons awaiting deportation when his passport was cleared at Nyamapanda.
Investigations have also established that Chamboko processed the visas after receiving passports from an unregistered immigration agent known as Musarurwa, who had been paid by the Chinese nationals to fraudulently facilitate the processing of their visas in their absence.
The State alleges that Chamboko’s actions were contrary and inconsistent with her duties.