Woman in court over fake documents

FRASER MPOFU
Correspondent | Friday February 15, 2008 00:00

Mirriam Sakala, 27, of Dingumuzi residential area in Plumtree was allegedly selling the documents for P100 each, which gave refugee status to its Zimbabwean buyers status in Botswana. Sakala appeared at the Plumtree Magistrate's Court, 100km west of Bulawayo on Tuesday this week before resident magistrate, Sheilla Nzombe and was remanded in custody until today for continuation of trial. Initially, Sakala, of R4 Dingumuzi suburb in Plumtree Township pleaded guilty to contravening Section 40 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Chapter 9:23 that deals with possession of articles for criminal use. She however, changed her plea to not guilty. In her defence, Sakala said that she was holding the fake documents on behalf of someone else, one Tichawanda Famabi, a Zimbabwean. She claimed that she did not know that the documents were bogus and what they were meant for.

Sakala told the court that she would invite a witness who would testify that she was, indeed keeping the counterfeit documents on behalf of Famabi. It is the state's case that February 3 this year, police in the border town received a report that the defendant was selling some documents that claimed that they were an outcome of an interview between Famabi and the Refugee Advisory Committee of Botswana. The fake papers claimed that Botswana's Minister of Justice, Defence and Security granted the holder of the documents refugee status to live in Botswana. According to the state the documents had a date stamp from the State President, Francistown, Botswana'. But all hell broke loose when two Zimbabwean police officers approached her posing as potential buyers who were desperate to obtain refugee status in Botswana.

Not knowing that she had fallen into a trap, Sakala allegedly told undercover officers that she was selling each document for P100.This led to her arrest and the recovery of the fake documents.Batswana authorities have of late reported an upsurge in the use and trade by Zimbabweans in fake emergency travel documents which they use to hoodwink Batswana police. More than 15 Zimbabweans have been arrested since the beginning of the year, for possessing the emergency travel documents. Thousands of desperate Zimbabweans are known to be buying these documents in a bid to stay in Botswana and South Africa and escape the economic crisis in their country.