TWO Burundi nationals who were arrested on April 3 for illegally entering and staying in Zimbabwe were yesterday were ordered to each pay a $50 fine before being deported to their country with immediate effect. SILAS NKALA STAFF REPORTER
This was after the State managed to get a Swahili interpreter, Sacra Kwete.
Bahebura Samweri (41) and his son Masumbuko Arex (18) both of Bubanza area, Nzakira village under Chief Venas’s province in Bujumbura, pleaded guilty to illegal entry and stay in Zimbabwe when they appeared before Bulawayo senior magistrate Sibongile Msipa yesterday.
In mitigation, Samweri told the court that he had fled the Great Lakes country after his wife and five children were killed.
“I had five children and only this one is surviving. My wife was also killed,” he said.
“Why did you commit this offence,” Msipa asked.
“I was on the run in Burundi,” Samwerisaid .
“Why did you run away from Burundi to Zimbabwe?” Msipa enquired.
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“Because Zimbabwe has peace. In Burundi there is no peace; my wife and children were all killed, that is why I ran away,” Samweri said.
He told the court that his son Arex dropped out of school and fled Burundi with him.
“Pay a fine of $50 each or spend 15 days in prison. I also order that you be deported to Burundi with immediate effect,” Msipa ruled. “You can only stay here if your papers are in order, but if not then you have to be sent back to your country.”
The court heard that on April 3 this year, the two entered Zimbabwe and went to Mzilikazi Police Station where they were asked to produce travel documents. They failed and were immediately arrested.
