A Telecel Zimbabwe senior official has been arrested and deported

A Telecel Zimbabwe senior official has been arrested and deported for working illegally in the country while three Chinese from another telecommunications company were arrested for working without permits.

The Telecel official, Simon Payne, was arrested by immigration officials last Friday and appeared before a Harare magistrate on Monday. He was fined US$1 000 or six months in prison for violating the Immigration Act for working in the country without a requisite permit.

Telecel was fined US$1 500 for employing a person without a work permit. Payne, who is based in the United Kingdom, was deported on Monday evening.

Payne was contracted by the company to work in the country between December 1 last year to December 31 this year. The company failed to apply for a work permit for him. Investigations by the Immigration Department revealed that he started working in Zimbabwe early last year without the relevant documents.

Also arrested last week were three Chinese -- Yang Xinjun, Yang Lijun and He Xue -- who appeared at the Harare Magistrate Court on Wednesday for violating the Immigration Act.

They were each fined US$700 while their company ZTE Corporation (Zimbabwe) Limited was fined US$1 500.

The company, which is subcontracted by Econet, had employed the three without following normal procedure.

Acting on a tip off, immigration officials raided the company last Friday and arrested the three who also face deportation.