Zimbo locked up in Botswana for falsehoods

A Zimbabwean refugee appeared before Francistown magistrates' court last Wednesday accused of supplying false information to a public officer in order to fraudulently obtain an identity card (Omang).

Tapiwa Mpofu (47) from Plumtree pleaded guilty to the charges and will discover her fate on April Fool's Day.

Agreed facts of the offence are that in 2003, Mpofu approached officials at the Department of Civil and National Registration in Francistown and misrepresented herself as one Keneilwe Malaicha.

Keneilwe was a niece to Mpofu's employer, Dutchman Malaicha, who employed the Zimbabwean as a maid.

Mpofu, claiming to be Keneilwe, informed the official helping her that she had lost her ID and needed it replaced.

The official believed Mpofu's story and issued a receipt for the identity card. A week later, Mpofu collected her new assumed identity.

It was not until 17 September 2009, when the real Keneilwe went to the Omang offices to change her maiden surname to Mmileng, following her recent marriage that the fraud came to light.

To her surprise, Keneilwe was informed that she was sharing her ID with someone else, resulting in a verification exercise.

Consequently, Keneilwe positively identified Mpofu as the maid who used to work for her uncle, resulting in the matter being reported to the police.

After the report was made, the police launched a manhunt for Mpofu but it took close to three (3) years before the elusive Mpofu was finally apprehended.

Mpofu was eventually arrested late last year after going to the Omang offices to renew the ID that she had obtained in 2003.

In mitigation, Mpofu, who did not have any legal representation, pleaded with the court not to deport her to Zimbabwe, maintaining that she has been in Botswana since 1974.

She told the court that she has lost touch with her family and that there is nothing left for her in Zimbabwe.