Can Lilian Mutambo be deported to Zambia to face legal charges?

Can Lilian Mutambo be deported to Zambia to face legal charges? ==============Authored By; *Mupishi Jones* As it stands now the Immigration Agency have declared void the passport of Lilian Mutambo . If a Zambian passport is declared void while the holder is abroad, deportation to Zambia is possible, but it doesn’t happen automatically.Here is how […]

Can Lilian Mutambo be deported to Zambia to face legal charges?
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Authored By; *Mupishi Jones*

As it stands now the Immigration Agency have declared void the passport of Lilian Mutambo . If a Zambian passport is declared void while the holder is abroad, deportation to Zambia is possible, but it doesn’t happen automatically.
Here is how it actually works:

1. Void passport doesn’t guarantee automatic deportation
When Zambia declares a passport void, that person becomes undocumented in the host country. The host country’s Immigration decides what to do next, not Zambia.

What the host country can do:
– Give them a deadline to regularize their stay
– Detain and start removal proceedings for staying without a valid passport/visa
– Not renew their visa or residence permit
A visa or permit is tied to a valid passport. When the passport expires or is voided, most countries will not renew it.

2. How deportation to Zambia would happen
Two different legal routes:
A. Deportation / Removal (by host country): If her permit expires and she has no valid passport, the host country can order her to leave for being illegally present. To do that, the host country will ask Zambia to issue an Emergency Travel Document / Temporary Passport.

Zambia has an obligation under international law to accept its own nationals back.
B. Extradition (by Zambia): If there is an active criminal case in Zambia – like cyber crimes under the Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act, or defamation – Zambian authorities would need to
– File charges and get an arrest warrant from court
– Request extradition through diplomatic channels
– The host country must have an extradition treaty or agreement with Zambia and must agree the offence is extraditable

Extradition is much harder and longer than simple immigration removal.
3. What about the Miles Sampa case?
That is a civil defamation case. Civil cases do not lead to extradition. A court can proceed and give judgment in her absence if she was properly served but does not appear. If judgment is for K1,300 – or K1.3 million – it can be enforced against any assets she has in Zambia.

She would only be forced to appear for a criminal case, not a civil damages claim.
4. Can she just stay without a passport?
No, long term she can’t. Without a valid passport:
– She can’t renew a visa
– She can’t legally work or travel
– She can’t access consular services
Eventually most people have to approach the Zambian Embassy for an emergency document to return. The Embassy can issue one even if the original passport was voided.

So yes, she can be deported or forced to return when her documents expire, but it depends on the host country’s immigration action, not just the voiding of the passport by Zambia.This means that she is in the diaspora without a legally binding passport. What could happen next might even surprise you, a visa or passport has to be legally approved by ones own country and in the foreign country, the funny part, it expires via time and one has to renew it.

Now when Lilian Mutambo expires, here is what is actually going to happen . We all know she has committed a lot of cyber crimes, from insulting the head of state to accusing people of felonies they did not commit . But wait, Will Lilian Mutambo even at once appear in Zambia in her lifetime?

Mupishi Jones
Political Analyst