ABOUT US$600,000 (K6,379,590) from various immigration permits at Immigration Department offices at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport (KKIA) has gone missing.
This came to light yesterday when Minister of Home Affairs Davies Mwila toured the Immigration offices in Lusaka.
According to the officer in charge at Immigration office at KKIA, Pelekelo Lungu, who was briefing Mr Mwila yesterday, an internal audit revealed that the money went missing between March and October 2014.
Mr Mwila, speaking during the tour, directed immigration officers to promptly bank monies they collect.
“The officer collected money in 2014 but failed to deposit the money in the bank. I have given a directive to the permanent secretary to take disciplinary action against this officer and an effective audit is going to be conducted to find out the misappropriation of the collected revenue,” he said.
Mr Mwila said the officer will not only be disciplined, but prosecuted, too, when investigations are concluded.
And the minister directed the Immigration Department to stop the influx of immigrants who are working without work permits.
Mr Mwila said it is unacceptable for companies to bring in foreigners with readily available skills such as plumbing or bricklaying.
“How can you approve permits for people with such qualifications? How do you give a work permit to someone who comes to work at a massage parlour?
“My office has information that most foreigners are getting spouse permits and when they stay in Zambia for years, they are leaving without their local wives,” Mr Mwila said.
He directed Immigration Department director general Moola Milomo to work effectively in ensuring that the department fulfils its mandate.
“…I have given a directive to the permanent secretary to take disciplinary action against this officer…”
Do the Immigration Officers enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution (theft by servant) and instead face “disciplinary action” only?
Hon. Minister, please put your act together.
Hallo there!
My continued reading down the paragraph indicated that ….Mr. Mwila said the officer will not only be disciplined but prosecuted too when investigations are concluded…
What do you make of that?
To little, to late.
We get arrested for walking in the group of more than three without any investigation whilst thief of 300K its given time to interfere with evidence?
Work permit to a massage therapist is better than a PF minister.
Awe naine nindabwa,is that all this thieving officer will face,disciplinary action and “prosecution”? Surely $600,000 is a lot of money for one to plunder and just face what the minister is suggesting,and why is this thief’s name even a secret?
Oops! You too zamcab…!
Its a case of poor reading skills i guess.
MR. MWILA SAID THE OFFICER WILL NOT ONLY BE DISCIPLINED BUT PROSECUTED TOO WHEN INVESTIGATIONS ARE CONCLUDED.
I know you can do better.
What IQ is saying is that the police should quickly swing in and arrest all the suspects in this scam!
He will share the $600, 000 with the Minister and the DPP and get a “nolle” and we will never hear of this case again!
Na Sikaneta feels she is working like that coz she really likes the post newspaper publications
Right so, why should only the politicans be allowed to pocket money.
This is what happens when you don’t invest in ICT facilities …imagine how much is leaking via corruption?
Its a scam it cant be one officer
It’s a flawed system…that fact that amount can be misappropriated says it all.
Mr Mwila! be honest you can’t say don’t bring plumbers or bricklayers, some couple of years ago when I was in SA, I realised most of kitchen fitters (carpenters) are Zimbabwean, bricklayers (builders) are Mozambican,domestic landscapers (gardeners) are Malawians, its all about quality and professionalism of that particular capacity, most foreigners are good at doing that…………….
@Viyazi, there are no Zambians with these skills because the Trades Schools were laid to rest long ago. Tried renovating my house last year, it was a nightmare!! Believe me, it is cheaper to bring your own skilled tradesmen from wherever you are coming from.
Kindly, investigate this case very well. we do not want see a situation whereby you just end up in making policy statement in order to gain political mileage. May be , this officer does not support your so called “Patriotic Front Party”. Make sure that the innocent person is not victmised and his family suffer. If he surely did that, let the law take its cause and have him prosecuted. Nevertheless, remember a story in the Bible where the woman was caught in the act of committing adultery, they took her to Jesus to Judge. But Jesus asked them “whoever has never committed a sin should be the first one to throw the stone on her”. What happened? everyone left . The same applies to the minister, if he is so clean and had never stolen from the government coffers let him condem that…
The same applies to the minister, if he has never stolen from the government treasury let him conderm that officer. We need a serious government in the name of the Heritage Party next year when election will be held.