LONDON – A 37-year-old Zimbabwean man is being held at the Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre near Heathrow Airport pending deportation back to Zimbabwe on Tuesday.
British immigration officials claim the picture on his old passport does not bear any resemblance to the one on his new passport.
In an interview with Nehanda Radio, Atterbell Maplanka says he travelled to Zimbabwe two weeks ago after his mother passed away.
On his way back he was detained at Heathrow Airport on Wednesday. He travelled with two passports because the expired one has the stamp reflecting his indefinite leave to remain.
“I went to attend my mothers’ funeral. When I came back they detained me at Heathrow Terminal 2 and said I don’t look like the person in the passport, basically. I was granted indefinite leave to remain in 2003 on my old passport.
“That passport has since expired so I applied for a new passport. I did contact immigration and they said that’s not a problem, you can either transfer your visa to your new passport or you can travel with both passports. Since they told me that I have travelled four or five times, and I have never had an issue.”
Maplanka well know for his entertainment programme ‘Mzansi Jams’, lives in Eastbourne and has four children, two from his first wife, who all have British passports and two children with his new wife, one child has indefinite leave to remain.
He also has sisters and nieces in the UK who have all become British citizens.
Represented by RBM Solicitors, Maplanka says he has asked for fingerprints to be taken but has been told British authorities do not maintain fingerprint records for more than 10 years and so they do not have anything to compare with.
His lawyers will be applying for a judicial review on Monday.
You can listen to the interview between Lance Guma and Atterbell Maplanka.
