Fake Permits For Sale, a Pakistan national who has been in the country for some 13 years

nngu007

JF-Expert Member
Aug 2, 2010
15,862
5,797
Sun, Sep 25th, 2011
| [URL="http://in2eastafrica.net/national/tanzania-headlines/"]Tanzania[/URL]




[h=2][/h]
Fake-permit.jpg
Fake permit














The Immigration Department processed and granted fake resident permits to 43 Pakistan nationals, enabling them to work in the country for years, proving how corruption has rocked the country’s governance system, The Guardian on Sunday has learnt.

The revelation casts doubt on the entire system of issuance and management of residence permits for foreign nationals seeking job opportunities in Tanzania, informed sources attest.
However, there’s still more questions to answer behind the 43 Pakistanis as their documents show that all fees were paid to government bank accounts at NMB bank, before the permits were issued.
The questions that beg urgent answers are: who issued these permits? Who forged the signature of the Director of Immigration? Where were these permits printed? Why did it take so long to detect this massive fraud?
While one of the Pakistanis has strongly rejected the claims that his permit was faked, some officials within the immigration department have made it clear that all 43 permits were bogus despite being processed through the banking system.
But as the Immigration department prepares to strengthen its muscle against clandestinely obtained resident permits, this paper has established that one of the recently declared ‘fake’ permits was fully paid for in regard to all relevant fees including that required for renewal.
The Guardian on Sunday has managed to obtain a copy of one of the alleged fake permits, which the immigration department has revoked following the revelation that a local factory had 43 Pakistanis using dubious resident permits.
The said fake residence permit belongs to one Zulfiqar Ali, a Pakistan national who has been in the country for some 13 years since his initial entry in 1998.
Zulfiqar, a former employee of Iron and Steel Company Limited, where his contract was suddenly terminated mid this year, had renewed his residence permit Class B on 27th April, 2011, which had two year validity as it would expire on 14th April 2013.The $660 renewal fee for the current denounced permit was paid to Immigration through its National Microfinance Bank (NMB) revenue collection bank account number 2017300025 at Bank House branch.
Zulfiqar was one of the 43 Pakistanis – workers of Iron and Steel Company declared in July this year by Immigration department as holders of fake permits.
However he had previously held a residence permit which were renewed on different occasions including 4th July 2000 and 2nd April, 2009, respectively.
Speaking to this paper this week, Zulfiqar said he wasn’t aware whether his permit was fake because it was obtained through proper channels as required by the immigration department.
According to Zulfiqar, he didn’t understand why the Immigration declared his permit fake while he had followed all required procedures for initial application as well as subsequent renewal.
“It is Immigration department which knows better what this matter is all about but to the best of my knowledge all procedures were properly followed,” he said in an interview.
The Guardian on Sunday understands that following cancellation of his residence permit, Zulfiqar has been living in the country by using a two-month temporary document known as ‘Carry on Temporary Assignment’ (CTA) which would expire on 9th November 2011, short of which he should have been deported as per Immigration procedures.
It is believed that CTA was issued following the intervention by the Pakistan High Commission office inDar es Salaam upon receiving complaints from Zulfiqar.
A letter dated August 10 from the Pakistan High Commission for Pakistan to the Permanent Secretary at the Foreign Ministry, reads: “The High Commission of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan presents its compliments to the Ministry Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Republic ofTanzania and in continuation of its note verbal of even number dated 27th July 2011 has the honour to state that it has come to the High Commission’s notice that the case of Mr Zulfiqar Ali and Mr. Muhammad Safdar, Pakistani nationals, former employees of the Tanzania Company, M/s Iron and Steel Ltd, is sub judice.” It adds: “The esteemed Ministry is therefore requested to ask the concerned immigration authorities to withhold the deportation of the above Pakistanis till the court gives its verdict in their case.”
Zulfiqar claims to have been terminated unfairly from employment by Iron and Steel Company in July, this year due to misunderstandings with the company’s administration. He also claimed that after the termination of his contract, he was grossly mistreated including being abducted and tortured by two influential local businessmen.
However, The Guardian on Sunday didn’t succeed to get the alleged abductors to give their side of the story, after they declined to respond to several questions raised by our journalists.
Zulfiqar, through his wife who is a Tanzanian, reported the matter to the Police, which investigated the claims thoroughly before deciding to prosecute the accused.
An immigration officer from the team currently investigating the matter spoke under conditions of anonymity said the matter was being investigated to establish the real culprits behind it. “We want to know the racketeers behind the forgery of sensitive government documents,” the officer told The Guardian on Sunday It is astonishing to learn that 43 resident permits were fake at a single firm (Iron and Steel), therefore this is a matter we are making a follow up very keenly, said the officer.
The Officer added: ‘In pursuing this we will not limit our scope just to documents. We will go further and gather all useful information to ensure that the law is observed.’
Early last year the former Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner, William Lukuvi, formed a probe committee to investigate among other things the legality of Chinese investors in the city.
The probe committee among other things discovered massive irregularities in the issuance of residence permits for the so called investors.
By Florian Kaijage, The Guardian


 
0 Reactions
Reply
Back
Top Bottom