A KUWAITI Embassy official appeared before Harare magistrate Elijah Makomo yesterday charged with human trafficking.
BY PAIDAMOYO MUZULU
Brenda Avril May was remanded in custody to today for bail ruling.
May, who works at the embassy’s front office, is accused of trafficking three Zimbabweans to Kuwait in 2015 under the pretext that they would be employed as nurse aides, but were eventually used as housemaids who worked for 22 hours a day and without being served with any proper meals or allowed to communicate with the outside world.
Prosecutor Peter Kachirika yesterday submitted that May was a flight risk and likely to interfere with State witnesses and should not be granted bail.
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However, May argued that she was a suitable candidate for bail and was even surprised that she was rearrested after the Prosecutor-General’s Office on Monday directed that she be released and the matter be pursued by way of summons.
It is the State case that May connived with Kuwaiti nationals to recruit desperate Zimbabweans under the guise of employment yet they would be enslaved upon arrival in the Arab country.
The State alleges May successfully trafficked Edith Chapo, Stella Juliet Jakarasi and Cynthia Dube to Kuwait in 2015. It further avers May facilitated the processing of visas and air-tickets for the alleged victims.
All the victims are back in Zimbabwe after they managed to get hold of their relatives back home and the country’s embassy in Kuwait.