A court in northern Zambia’s Mpika district has convicted a Tanzanian driver of aiding and abetting 30 Ethiopian illegal immigrants into Zambia and sentenced him to a jail term of two years, an immigration spokesperson said Thursday.
Immigration Department spokesperson Namati Nshinka identified the convict as 44-year-old Shamte Kasim Samata.
According to the spokesperson, the court has asked him to pay a fine of 60,000 Zambian Kwacha (about 2,730 U.S. dollars), failure to which he will be jailed for two years.
Court verdict showed the Tanzanian driver was detained on Oct. 13 for driving a containerized truck in which the Ethiopians were found hidden. The Ethiopians also appeared in court for failure to report themselves to immigration authorities, but their trial was adjourned to Nov. 14.
The immigration spokesperson said immigration authorities also removed 188 illegal immigrants from the country between Oct. 19 and Nov. 1, 2023, after paying their court fines for illegal entry.
