Twelve employees from Harare’s Registrar General’s Office were denied bail yesterday for allegedly issuing passports to four Cameroonian nationals fraudulently.
The accused, ranging in age from 26 to 47, face criminal ab_se of office charges. Magistrate Marehwanazvo Gofa deemed the offense serious and the defendants flight risks, ordering them to return on October 17 as investigations continue.
The arrested officers are Romeo Shonhiwa, 44, from Eastview Phase 2 in Harare; Marrian Roman, 40, from Glaudina Park; Lackmore Chinokokora, 34, from Eastview Phase 4; Grace Kapungu, 35, from Glen View 1; Chiedza Hlomani, 34, from Marlbereign; Maureen Natasha Munemo, 32, from Glen View 1; Tanaka Magaya, 28, from Sunningdale 3; and Edith Moto, 38, from Ruwa.
In a related incident, four individuals from Cameroon were arrested at the Beitbridge border while holding Zimbabwean passports. Upon questioning, they revealed that they had each paid US$1,500 to obtain the passports.
Their plan was to travel to South Africa and then move on to the UK.
The passports had been issued under altered names to disguise their true identities; for example, Marvel Ngei held a passport under the name Marvel Chimbwanda, Emile Muyamuya’s passport was issued as Emile Chingwaru, Christiana Boyombe was registered as Christiana Mhereyenyoka, and Tveete Kum had a passport under the name Tveete Mazana. The four were expected to appear in Beitbridge Magistrates Courts today.
All their passports had been stamped, but suspicion arose when one of them could not answer a question in Shona.
