Zim alien stripped of Botswana citizenship
Lebogang Mosikare | Tuesday January 25, 2022 06:00
When revoking the citizenship of Bernard Nvundla, who obtained a Botswana national identity card (Omang) in Tonota under false pretences using the names Chidzane Mafaya, Chief Magistrate Mareledi Dipate clarified the inherent risks associated with foreigners who obtain national documents illegally. In the past, the courts here decried the fact that cases of foreigners, especially Zimbabweans, who obtained Omang through fraudulent means were prevalent in the country.
The courts lamented that foreigners who obtained Omang through fraudulent means were competing with Batswana for government services and assistance that were solely the preserve of Batswana. Obtaining Omang fraudulently, the courts added, was a serious offence because the concerned fraudsters may also decide leaders of the country since they can use the document to register for elections and thereafter vote. Nvundla, who later married a local woman and was arrested when he tried to renew his Omang in Maun where he was working at NTT Nissan, subsequently managed to make a Botswana passport with the aid of the Omang that he had obtained illegally.
Although Dipate emphasised that obtaining Omang illegally was a serious offence, he later fined Nvundla P1,000 that was payable before end of business (1630hrs) on Thursday or six months in jail in default of payment after listening to Nvundla’s submissions in mitigation. However, Nvundla escaped imprisonment after his Motswana spouse paid the fine immediately following the passing of sentence. The court also made an order that Nvundla’s fraudulent Omang and passport should be taken to the Department of the Civil and National Registration for proper disposal.
It further ordered that Nvundla’s names should be permanently removed from the database of the Civil and National Registration department. Following the revocation of Nvundla’s citizenship, the court also made an order that the police should engage their Zimbabwean counterparts through Interpol to ascertain whether Nvundla was a citizen of Zimbabwe or not as he has claimed in court before he can be deported to his true country of origin. Nvundla will therefore spend considerable time at the Francistown Centre for Illegal Immigrants (FCII) before he can be deported.
This is because assistance from Interpol usually takes a considerable period of time before help is rendered. In mitigation, Nvundla, who is a first offender, had pleaded with the court to be lenient when sentencing him because he was a married man who was also taking care of his school going child who will suffer if he was given a custodial sentence. Nvundla also said the time he had spent in jail after he was arrested has taught him that crime does not pay and promised the court that if it can give him another opportunity to rejoin the society, he will teach the youth to refrain from criminal activities.