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ANOTHER HOME AFFAIRS OFFICER ARRESTED, PASSPORTS, STAMPS SEIZED

26/06/2024 08:00:00 Kwanele Dlamini

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MBABANE – The ongoing investigations into fraudulent activities in the Ministry of Home Affairs have seen the arrest of another officer from the ministry.

The female officer, who is based at Sicunusa Border Post, was arrested by members of the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) on Monday evening. During a search at her house, the police reportedly found a number of travel documents and stamps. The arrest of the officer was confirmed by Deputy Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Assistant Superintendent Nosipho Mnguni.

According to Mnguni, the officer is still assisting the police in furthering their investigations and will appear in court soon. Police investigations recently uncovered that most government services were offered in the backyard of some civil servants’ places of abode. The police, in their investigations, followed leads on allegations that there was a syndicate milking the State of thousands of Emalangeni, as, from their backyards, they were providing services that are the preserve of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The investigators reportedly found that some civil servants were selling government documents, such as birth certificates, national identity documents (IDs), marriage certificates, travel documents, international passports, visas and work permits.

The sources said these documents were found at the residences of some civil servants. Along with the documents, it was said the police also found government stamps, which were used in ‘authenticating’ the fraudulent documents. According to the sources, some civil servants deployed to the Ministry of Home Affairs, had a big clientele among people of Asian descent and north-eastern African countries. It was further established that the breakthrough in uncovering the corruption in the Ministry of Home Affairs came as a result of the arrest of a Zimbabwe national, Delight Moyo.

Middleman

The Zimbabwean, according to sources, was suspected to be the middleman between some immigration officers and their clientele. He was arrested by police officers under the Serious Crimes Unit. Moyo was suspected to have been part of a syndicate dealing in the sale of refugee status and passports to foreign nationals. When Moyo was arrested, it was alleged that he had been found in possession of five Eswatini passports, suspected to have been stolen from the Ministry of Home Affairs. Further investigations uncovered that Moyo had been producing fraudulent passports to immigration officers, in order to enter and exit Eswatini, through the Ngwenya Border Gate, since last year. The investigations also uncovered that Moyo allegedly stole Eswatini Government passport Book No. 0071943, which was valued at E300.

It has been alleged that Moyo acted jointly with other people in the commission of the offence. He was also charged with theft in that he allegedly received stolen Eswatini Government passport book numbers 0072999, 0073327, 0071982 and 077733 valued at E1 200. The passport books are the property of the Ministry of Home Affairs. It was also alleged that Moyo offered a public officer an amount of E2 100, as an inducement reward for stamping and not reporting fraudulent passport numbers 10337826, 10034578, 10440656, 10034326 and 10045233. The money, which is alleged to have been paid as a bribe to the public officer, was handed over to the police.

His arrest has since been followed by that of Assistant Immigration Officer, Mboneni Nkosinathi Zwane. Zwane has been charged with a total of 26 counts of fraud, theft and money laundering. Among the charges faced by Zwane, is that of fraud, in that he produced a travel document and presented it as authentic for his co-accused (Moyo). According to sources, more arrests are expected to be effected as police intensify investigations into the alleged fraudulent activities in the Ministry of Home Affairs. The police made the breakthrough after an internal investigation into the issuance of e-visa to foreigners.

In 2022, it was reported that the Ministry of Home Affairs had instituted an internal probe into the sale of refugee status and passports to foreign nationals. Police investigations reportedly found that there was a syndicate dealing in documentation status and refugee passports. It was revealed that the syndicate charged between E30 000 and E50 000 for fresh and legal documents for any undocumented citizen, who wanted to be treated as an official refugee in the Kingdom of Eswatini. The internal investigations saw over 100 immigration officers transferred last year.

Also, the theft of security documents such as passports and travel documents, as revealed in the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development 2023/2024 Annual Performance Report, was so rife that the government intended to install a E3.9 million security surveillance systems at the immigration office in the Ministry of Home Affairs. At the time, the immigration office was faced with the challenge of the disappearance and theft of security documents, such as passports and travel documents. The report stated that the government would spend at least E3.99 million and the support went towards the procurement and installation of a security surveillance system (digital surveillance cameras, control equipment and other accessories) in selected immigration offices in the ministry, which stored security documents.