Chinese woman fights passport seizure over illegal immigrants

Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi. PHOTO | FILE 

By BRIAN WASUNA, bwasuna@ke.nationmedia.com

In Summary

• Mary Huang Zheng had her passport seized following investigations into her role in helping the Chinese citizens obtain student passes for Nairobi Aviation College.
• Ms Zheng was arrested and detained at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on December 6, and her passport seized again for alleged misuse of a work permit.

Kenyan immigration officials have confiscated the passport of a Chinese woman accused of irregularly helping foreigners gain entry and residence in the country under the pretext of coming to study at a Nairobi-based private college.

Mary Huang Zheng had her passport seized following investigations into her role in helping the Chinese citizens obtain student passes for Nairobi Aviation College.

The Immigration Department claims that Ms Zheng has been using her work permit to get the student passes.

Ms Zheng’s passport was initially confiscated in August but was released after she sued the Immigration Department. She was arrested and detained at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on December 6, and her passport seized again for alleged misuse of a work permit.

Ms Zheng has been in Kenya since 2001 and runs Mary’s Clubhouse Restaurant in Nairobi’s Parklands area. She also co-owns a travel company, Sunshine Travels, with her brother. The company sells air tickets to Chinese visiting Kenya for both business and leisure.

Details of the passport seizure have been revealed in a suit Ms Zheng has filed seeking to have Director of Immigration Services Gordon Kilahangwa jailed for refusing to release her passport despite a High Court order.

She claims that immigration officials have been trying to use the seizure of her passport to extort bribes from her, having established that her Parklands-based restaurant along with assets she has acquired are worth over Sh60 million.

Ms Zheng says she was travelling to China on December 6 when she was detained at JKIA on the instructions of the director of Immigration Services.

“She was held overnight, and denied access to a lawyer. Despite having no legitimate claim, to Ms Zheng’s passport and despite several warnings, the director has remained in flagrant disobedience of court orders,” her lawyer says in court papers.

Ms Zheng is seeking orders for the arrest and imprisonment of Maj-Gen (retired) Kilahangwa for a period of six months or for such a period as the court may deem necessary for being in disobedience of the orders of the court issued on September 15.

He is yet to respond to the contempt of court application, but has been granted until January 25 to file a replying affidavit. Justice Louis Onguto will hear the matter and issue further directions.

The immigration boss did not respond to the initial suit Ms Zheng filed in September, but told the court that an amicable settlement was being pursued and that it would see her withdraw the case.

Justice Onguto was on December 7 to mark the suit as fully settled but Ms Zheng’s lawyer told the judge that his client had been arrested and detained at JKIA the night before. He consequently filed the application to have Kilahangwa jailed for contempt of court.

The immigration officers allegedly told Ms Zheng that she was not allowed to travel out of the country until detectives had concluded their investigations.

Ms Zheng has pleaded with the court to allow her deposit ownership documents of all her properties to enable her travel to China.

She said the documents can remain in court as security until she returns to Kenya. She claims the immigration officers have been investigating her in a cloak-and-dagger manner, and are yet to produce a list of the Chinese she allegedly helped secure study permits illegally.

“I have substantial investments in the country, including businesses and property worth over Sh60 million, and I suspect that this may be a contributing factor as to why Mr Kilahangwa and his officers may have placed a target on my back. I have repeatedly sought explanations for the relentless harassment and intimidation that I have faced at the hands of Mr Kilahangwa to no avail,” she adds.

She says that she was surprised at the allegations that Nairobi Aviation College has been applying for student visas on the strength of her work permit.

Ms Zheng holds that she reported the incident to Kilimani Police Station, and officers are investigating how her permit came to be used to apply for student passes.