THREE people, including a village chairman have been taken to court for allegedly conspiring to forge citizenship certificates to non-nationals, the Kagera Regional Immigration Officer (RIO), Mr Pendo Buteng'e has disclosed.
He named the accused before Bukoba Resident Magistrate, Samuel Maweda, as Tumaini Francis (24), a University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) student as the first accused, second Peace Francis (22) who is a Mwenge University (Moshi) student, and the Rwagati Village Chairman, Joseph Kinyonyi (51) all booked in Criminal Case No 63/2019.
The Prosecutor from Immigration, Hamza Sanga alleged that in the first offence, both Tumaini Francis and Peace Francis, unlawfully and jointly lived in the United Republic of Tanzania without processing residential permits.
In the second count, third accused Kinyoyi was charged separately for false declaration on citizenship of the duo.
According to Mr Sanga, the accused (Kinyonyi), who is the village Chairman, facilitated in endorsing an affidavit purporting that Tumaini and Peace were Tanzanians, knowing well that they were not.
He also told the court that Kinyonyi, with two other people not before the court, facilitated in signing the affidavit forms for Tumaini and Peace as Tanzanians, to enable them to secure loans from the Higher Education Students' Loans Board (HESLB) meant only for the nationals.
"However, with close scrutiny it was later established that both Tumaini and Peace were Rwandese and their mother was identified as Marie Msabima, who works with Christian Aid Foundation, and was issued with a resident permit that expires in 2020," he said.