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Emily Mbewe Court Reporter
A UGANDAN man was arrested in Bulawayo after he allegedly tried to leave the country using an illegally obtained passport.
Detectives pounced on Jolly Mugadza, 27, who resides in Bulawayo’s Hillcrest suburb, on January 29 at Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport.

He was found in possession of a valid Zimbabwean passport when he is not a holder of a Zimbabwean birth certificate and National Identity card, which would allow him to obtain the document.

Mugadza was arraigned before Bulawayo magistrate Sibongile Msipa- Marondedze for contravening section 36(1) of the immigration Act (Possession of or use of any travel document which one is not entitled to use).

He pleaded guilty and was fined $200.

The court has released him into police custody to assist investigators in identifying the person who issued the passport.

He told the court that he was using a Zimbabwean passport because he lost his Ugandan travelling documents.

“Your worship I admit to committing the offence, I used this passport because I had lost my original Ugandan documents and my country mate introduced me to a person who processed a Zimbabwean passport for me,” said Mugadza.

Prosecuting, Taurayi Hondoyemoto told the court that on January 29, 2015 at around 10AM, detectives from Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Airport and members from the immigration department were on joint patrol.

They got information that Mugadza was a Ugandan.

Hondoyemoto told the court that reacting to the information provided by the detectives at the airport, the members of the immigration department located Mugadza.

“When Mugadza was asked to produce documents authorising him to stay in the country he produced a valid Zimbabwean passport that he obtained through illegal means,” said Hondoyemoto.

Mugadza was taken to the Registrar’s office in Bulawayo where he was interviewed and failed to give a satisfactory account of how he obtained the passport.

The court heard that immigration officials confiscated the passport.

“Mugadza was issued with an immigration detention warrant and a certificate of evidence has been compiled by immigration officers,” said Hondoyemoto.