Immigration Director General face arrest over contempt of Court

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Dr Japhet Lishomwa, Department Immigration Director General

Two Chinese and Korean investors have been granted permission by the Lusaka High Court to commence proceedings to commit the Director General of the Department of Immigration, Japhet Lishomwa, to prison for contempt of court. 

The Lusaka High Court granted deported business investors an ex-parte order for leave to issue committal proceedings.

Last week, the Zambian Civil Liberties Union condemned the Immigration Department for disobeying the directive by the High Court to issue temporary permits to the three business investors who were due to attend their first Judicial Review on 31st  January 2024. 

According to the evidence filed in the High Court by lawyers for the three business investors, G-M Legal Practitioners, Immigration officers at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport declined to receive the ruling of the court on 27th January 2024, which directed them to issue temporary permits to the three.


Union Executive Director, Isaac Mwanza, has insisted that state institutions and all persons in Zambia are under an obligation to respect the court as failure to do so shows a breakdown in the rule of law. 

“It is very sad to note that the directives that were given by the courts have not been implemented up to date by the Immigration Department. We want to emphasize that it is important for state institutions to respect the Court and the Judiciary generally, Mr. Mwanza said”.

“We believe that any disregard of the Court rulings is a signal that there is break down in the rule of law”.

Mr. Mwanza has explained that evidence presented in court by the investors' lawyers, GM Legal Practitioners, revealed that Immigration officers at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport refused to accept the court's ruling on January 27, 2024.

"The Director General and the Attorney General received the court ruling on January 29, 2024, and the Chinese investors paid K36,360 to the Immigration Department for the temporary permits. However, the permits were still not issued as mandated by the court. Lawyers representing the investors claim that Lishomwa is displaying a lack of intention or willingness to respect the court's orders, alleging that the delay constitutes disobedience, he said.

Mr. Mwanza has demanded that the Immigration Department immediately implement the High Court orders. 

He said the organization is closely following this case, among the many cases where the organization believes state institutions are violating constitutional and human rights.

Recently Immigration Public Relations Officer, Namati Nshinka contended that the Department was never served with any Court Order and advised the two Chinese through their lawyers to follow the correct procedure

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