The operation launched by the Immigration Department against a syndicate of people linked with forging documents and passports has continued to pay off, following the arraignment of another person at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court in Dar es Salaam.
Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court
Businessman Abdalah Ally Mohamed (50), a resident of Gongo la Mboto in the city, was charged with 17 counts of forging several official immigration department documents and one count of being found in possession of 12 emergency travel documents owned by other people.
He denied the charges before Principal Resident Magistrate Waliarwande Lema. The magistrate ordered the accused to be remanded after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) filed a certificate to object to bail in the public interest.
The case will be mentioned on July 3, as investigations are incomplete. Senior State Attorney Tumaini Kwaka alleged that the accused forged official stamps for different residence permits, dependants and re-entry passes, immigration officers of various levels from district to head office capacities, border posts and principal commissioner of immigration.
He alleged that such offences were allegedly committed at unknown times and places in the city. The trial attorney told the court that on June 15, 2013, at Magomeni Mapipa in Kinondoni district, Mohamed was found in illegal possession of 12 emergency travel documents belonging to other people.
His arraignment comes a few days after the Immigration Department nabbed four people, including one of its own officials, Shemweta Mustafa Kiluwasha (31), a procurement officer, and a prominent musician, Chigwele Che Mundugwao (46), in connection with similar charges.
Other people who have already appeared before the same court are Kenneth Kombo Pius (37), an engineer with the Fire and Rescue Department, and Ally Jabir Ally (34), a businessman. They were charged with forging and stealing 26 passports.
Both have denied the charges. They are all in remand as the court denied them bail after the DPP filed a certificate on similar grounds objecting to bail.
Before the latest arraignment there was another batch comprising three businessmen, Bennety Tangire, Benedicto Ijumba and January Mutembei , who were charged in April, this year, with 28 counts of forging residence permits and obtaining 18,450 US dollars (29,520,000/-) from foreigners.
By FAUSTINE KAPAMA, Tanzania Daily News
