By NORMA SIAME –

POLICE and Immigration department officials in Mansa have apprehended a Congolese man who faked being deaf and dumb in an effort to allegedly fraudulently obtain national registration and voters cards.
Celor Mudiyadambo, 30, of  DR Congo took advantage of the ongoing national and voter registration exercise and used the alias Simple Chipulu to obtain the two documents.
Luapula Police chief Hudson Namachila who confirmed the arrest of Mudiyandambo said the suspect had gone to Kalaba Primary School in Mansa with a sign language interpreter.
The unidentified old woman who pretended to communicate using sign language with Mudiyadambo told registration officers that he was deaf and dumb.
“We suspect he opted to use this ruse because he probably could not communicate using one of the local languages or he was afraid his accent would betray his foreign origins,”  Mr Namachila said.
He was apprehended by members of the public that were gathered at the school waiting to be attended to.
After observing Mudiyandambo pretending to be deaf and dumb, he was seen sporting a cell phone into which he was seen vigorously talking on.
Alert members of the public informed the police officers who pounced on him leading to his arrest.
Mudiyandambo who is in police custody was issued with a National Registration Card bearing number 318499/32/1 whose serial number was Z12317499 and a voters’ card was issued under the number 48180494.
He purported to hail from Mundubi Village in Chief Chilembu’s area in Mansa.
He had since been charged with obtaining a National Registration Card by false pretenses and illegal entry and is expected to appear in court soon.