NAKONDE MAN FINED K80,000 FOR SMUGGLING SEVEN ETHIOPIANS INTO ZAMBIA.
A 34-year-old man of Nakonde District has been fined K80,000 by the Kapiri Mposhi Magistrate’s Court after being convicted of aiding and abetting the illegal entry of seven Ethiopian nationals into Zambia. Simukanzye Fred Mpumpu was sentenced on July 20, 2026, and will serve two years’ imprisonment with hard labour if he fails to pay the fine.
The Department of Immigration said Mpumpu was arrested on July 4 after Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) officers reported a suspicious unregistered in-transit Nissan NV150 AD vehicle along the Kapiri Mposhi–Nakonde Road.
Immigration officers intercepted the vehicle and found seven Ethiopian nationals whose passports did not bear Zambian entry endorsement stamps.
The seven Ethiopian nationals were separately convicted on July 16 for failing to report to the nearest Immigration Officer upon entering Zambia. Each was fined K10,000 or sentenced to five months’ simple imprisonment in default of payment.
They remain detained at Mukobeko Correctional Facility pending payment of the fines and their removal from Zambia. Meanwhile, forfeiture proceedings against the vehicle used in the offence are scheduled before the Kapiri Mposhi Magistrate’s Court on July 23.
Separately, the Department of Immigration apprehended 43 suspected illegal immigrants during an operation in Lusaka District. The group, comprising 31 Burundians, 11 Congolese and one Rwandan national, is undergoing immigration processing.
The department has warned that facilitating illegal immigration is a serious offence that carries penalties including fines, imprisonment and forfeiture of property used in committing such crimes.
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