LUSAKA INVADED BY FOREIGNERSS DODGING TAX THROUGH SIPHONING HAIR-PLAITING PROCEEDS  

Fri, 19 Jan 2018 12:40:33 +0000

By EDWARD MWANGO 

THEY are dotted in almost all the outlying townships of Lusaka where they rent cheap, poorly built structures, mostly designed as one or two-roomed arrangements.

Others squat and sleep in their rented shops which have no sanitary facilities, posing a health hazard to their clients.

Their distinctive facial features can tell it all that they are foreigners from another geographical setup.

This is unmistakeable, going by their visible traditional deep marks on each of their cheeks, as if they were attacked by the claws of a wild cat.

Most of them have pierced ears and chocolate teeth, signifying a strong credence to traditional norms of beautifying their bodies and outlooks.

These are the Masai, a Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting southern Kenya and northern Tanzania.

They are among the best known local populations due to their residence near the many game parks of the African Great Lakes, and their distinctive customs and dress.

The Masai speak the Maa language, a member of the Nilo-Saharan family that is related to Dinka and Nuer language.

They are also educated in the official languages of Kenya and Tanzania, Swahili and English.

According to the World Bank, the Masai are great in number and most recent records indicate that there are 841, 622 of them in Kenya and 430, 000 in Tanzania.

Even though the Masai live a simple life, they still thrive in spite of the quickly developing world. 

The Masai, when their numbers were much smaller, are thought to have travelled down from the Nile Valley in the north. 

The World Bank report also states that the Masai take lion hunting very seriously indeed.

Lions are never hunted for fun and it’s not uncommon for this extremely dangerous practice to result in hunters being injured or killed.

Going on a solo hunt for a male lion (they don’t hunt females) is seen by the tribe as a display of great courage and strength. But in recent years the lion population has dwindled due to disease. The Masai created a new rule that means they can now only hunt in groups, allowing the lion population to recover.

The practice has a deep traditional root that cultivates a fearlessness among the tribe’s warriors.

While these hunts may seem very different to Western practices, they’re of great importance to the Masai people.

The Tanzanian and Kenyan governments have instituted programmes to encourage the Masai to abandon their traditional semi-nomadic lifestyle, but the people have continued their age-old customs. An Oxfam study has suggested that the Masai could pass on traditional survival skills such as the ability to produce food in deserts and scrublands that could help populations adapt to climate change. Many Masai tribes throughout Tanzania and Kenya welcome visits to their villages to experience their culture, traditions, and lifestyle.

In Kenya, Masai is a unique and popular tribe due to their long preserved culture.

Accordingly, despite education, civilisation and western cultural influences, the Masai people have clung to their traditional way of like, making them a symbol of Kenyan culture.

In Zambia, where they have found solace, these foreigners who are said to possess hair styling skills in which they weave female clients’ hair into thin braids, are cashing in on this money-spinning business, taking advantage of Zambian women who take pride in the hair styles.

As human traffic increases in the ever-busy Central Business District of Lusaka, these hair dressers are regularly seen annoyingly though, dangling their merchandise before the faces of would-be clients.

This run-through often irritates passers-by as the Masai’s wayward pursuit for quick money adds to the already huge human traffic jam on the busy streets of Lusaka.

This has become a thriving business venture for them in which they peg their prices between K250 and K450 unlike previously when they were just herding cattle in their country of origin.

Their continued stay in the country has raised eyebrows amongst some Zambians with the matter recently being raised in Parliament.

Vice President, Inonge Wina, revealed to Parliament that some Masai people entered Zambia with valid papers but many chose to stay even after the expiry of their permits and began offering services such as hair-plaiting.

The Vice-President noted that these people were externalising proceeds of their hair-plaiting services in Zambia and evading tax.

“Some of these people enter the country with valid documents but many of them opt to stay even after the expiry of their permits,” Ms Wina had emphasised.

She added that Tanzania, from where some of them originated, was Zambia’s neighbouring country and a member of the Southern African Development Community.

She stressed however that there was no agreement that allowed the Masai to settle in the country illegally.

“They earn money here and remit it to their homeland without paying tax.

“That is why we round them up and deport those without valid papers,” Ms Wina explained.

Ms Wina was responding to a query by Kwacha Member of Parliament Boniface Mutale (PF) who wanted to know the legal status of the Masai men who were engaging in the hair-plaiting business.

Tax evasion is wilfully attempting in any manner to evade or defeat any tax imposed by the state which is the criminal non-payment of taxes.

In 2016, Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) recovered K520 million from Tax evasion cases.

From January to September 2016 the ZRA                                                                                                                   realised the amount from tax cases which were investigated during the period under review.

During that period, ZRA Director – Inspections, Moses Shuko disclosed that the number of cases handled under investigations from January to September was 34 while 26 cases had to do with the retail sector.

It was also noted that some people in the informal sector were not paying tax because the penalties were very weak citing past convictions where people were fined K200 and walked away.

This, however has prompted ZRA to reflect on stiffening the penalties for tax evasion in the informal sector following proposals to improvements in the tax legislation to ensure that the informal sector was taxed.

In Zambia, the informal sector is spread within the Central Business Districts and markets.

Although the informal sector makes up a significant portion of the economies in developing countries it is often branded as bothersome and uncontrollable.

Experts believe that the informal sector provides critical economic opportunities for the poor and has been expanding rapidly since and as such, integrating the informal economy into the formal sector is an important policy challenge.

However, in Zambia, the Masai squeeze themselves among the informal sector through their usual hair-plaiting business while their whereabouts remain vague.

Most of them have now adapted to the country’s social practices including use of some of Zambia’s local languages.

However, the Zambia Department of Immigration has ensured that laws are tightened in terms of foreigners entering the country illegally.

This is in line with the department’s core business of effectively and efficiently facilitating and regulating the entry and exit of persons and to control the stay of immigrants and visitors in the country.

Zambia Immigration Department Public Relations Officer, Namati Nshinka, admits that the department faces a huge challenge regarding the influx of the Masai people from Tanzania into the country.

“This is a huge challenge on our part because the influx of the foreigners is as a result of easy access to travel documents in Tanzania,”                                                                              ‘admitted Mr. Nshinka in an interview with Daily Nation.

‘The requirement of entry by visitors is 30 days after which one can renew after expiry.

‘However some of these foreigners illegally staying in the country have since been arrested and prosecuted and deported back to their countries of origin,’ said Mr. Nshinka. 

Mr Nshinka, nevertheless, explained that authorities in Tanzania had now made adjustments on regulations regarding travel documents following discussions held at different levels by relevant authorities of both Zambia and Tanzania aimed at resolving issues of mutual concern.

For instance, last year Tanzania made changes to entry requirements for Zambians.

According to the changes on entry requirements, Zambian truck drivers would no longer be required to obtain a Business Pass when entering Tanzania and would not be charged the US$ 200 fee which was previously applicable, meaning that truck drivers would now be required to obtain a visitor’s pass.

“Citizens of Zambia proceeding to Tanzania for a visit will be entitled to 90 days per year which will however, not be issued at once as it was previously. Any visitor intending to spend more than 90 days in Tanzania will be required to apply for a resident permit or any other relevant permit in line with the laid down immigration regulations of that country,” Home Affairs Permanent Secretary Professor Elwyn Chomba was quoted as saying.

She added, “Citizens of Zambia falling under the business category will still be required to obtain a Business Pass when entering Tanzania and will also be entitled to 90 days per year which will not be issued at once.”

The entry requirement changes followed recent developments in Tanzania on immigration matters relating to the citizens of Zambia.

These developments emanated from discussions held at different levels by relevant authorities of both countries aimed at resolving issues of mutual concern.

As these illegal aliens continue to flood Zambia’s compounds it should be binding for the department of immigration to step up its efforts of sieving them thoroughly to separate the genuine ones in search of job and business opportunities from fake ones.