|
Alert issued: Aliens target loan funding
2007-05-19 09:26:33
By Amina Saidi, PST, Morogoro
The Morogoro office of the Immigration Department has alerted institutions of higher learning on the danger they run of enrolling foreign students not holding proper residence permits.
Regional Immigration Officer Moses Matinde has subsequently advised the government to identify non-Tanzanians applying for funding from the Higher Education Students Loan Board.
He said an inspection conducted by his office during the recent boycott of classes by some university students unearthed a list of foreign students who had landed HESLB loans, denying Tanzanian nationals access to badly needed education support.
`Our investigations spotted one foreign student who was enrolled as a bona fide Tanzanian but actually had no documents to justify his citizenship,` Matinde explained.
He recommended that the board conduct a thorough verification of the nationality status of all loan applicants`,`because some foreigners can easily take advantage of existing loopholes to illegally enjoy government financial assistance`.
The official cited another example of a Morogoro-based employee who had for years identified herself as Tanzanian citizen while she was not.
He said the woman (name withheld) had studied at various colleges in the country, enjoying all government education support and being awarded the relevant certificates although she was a foreigner.
The woman worked with a sugar company in the region for four years without being identified, adding: `For all those years she was pretending to be from Kidodi village that borders Kilosa and Kilombero districts. She employed the same tricks to secure bank loans to start business operations.`
`It is fortunate that the complicated processes involved in securing bank credit facilities have now scared away many such people. It is outright wrong for illegal immigrants to enjoy resources and facilities that are the birthright of Tanzanians,` observed the immigration official.
He called on all concerned to be vigilant `as some foreigners might pose as Tanzanians and secure students` loans and other facilities or incentives meant exclusively for our people using fake documents`.
`The authorities must take immediate steps to deal with people cheating on their nationalities. Wananchi should help to expose those elements because they are a security hazard,` added Matinde.
Efforts to get government and HESLB officials to comment on the matter failed yesterday, with Science, Technology and Higher Education minister Prof. Peter Msolla and board chairman Nimrod Mkono unreachable by phone.
|
