Man denies Tanzanian citizenship after half a century in the country

More than half a century under his belt, Ibrahimu Ally (75) admits that he is a citizen of Sierra Leone and not a Tanzanian as he has purported to authorities all these years.

 

Ally has lived in Tanzania for 51 years having entered the country just after independence in 1963 when he was a young 24 year old man.

Speaking to journalists yesterday Ally said for all those years, he has been living and worked in the Byamtemba village of Missenyi District, posing as a Tanzanian. 

 

He acknowledged that even the recent operation Kimbunga which to nabbed hundreds of illegal immigrants earlier this year, overlooked him. 

 

“The authorities believed I am a Tanzanian so they did not bother me,” he said. 

 

“I made them believe that I am a Tanzanian and that is why during operation Kimbunga nobody thought I am a foreigner,” he admitted.

Now Ally says: “I have decided to return home to live the rest of my life with my relatives.” 

 

With that decision, the illegal immigrant says he is now willing to return to his home country and he may very well get his wish as Misenyi District Immigration Officer Laurent Mtale told our reporter that he would look into the matter and pursue legal avenues that govern such cases. 

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN