SEVENTEEN adult Ethiopians arrested in September last year for entering the country illegally through Lake Kariba have been fined by a Chinhoyi magistrate, and now await deportation.
Handing down the ruling on Monday, magistrate Kudzanai Mahaso, however, warned, cautioned and discharged the 12 minors who were part of the group.
The 17, aged between 20 and 29 years, were fined US$20 each or 20 days in jail.
“All are to be deported by the Department of Immigration upon serving their sentences not later than 31 January 2025,” ruled Mahaso.
It was the State case that on September 27, 2024, the Ethiopian nationals used two canoes to cross Lake Kariba into Zimbabwe with the help of Kudzai Mataona and a Zambian national.
They were intercepted and arrested two days later at a roadblock near Makuti Police Station following a tip off ‘from a reliable source’.
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They all failed to produce traveling documents which allowed them into Zimbabwe. The case took long to be finalized due to the shortage of interpreters for the Ethiopians. Lawyers Michael Chandida and Jimmy Zuze fought hard to force government to provide interpreters since September last year. The case exposed some police officers who were facilitating the Ethiopians free passage into the country enroute to South Africa and they are awaiting trial.