MALAWI HIGH COURT RESERVES RULING ON BUSHIRIS’ CHALLENGE TO SECOND ARREST WARRANT

LILONGWE – The High Court in Malawi has reserved its ruling on a challenge which selfproclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary have lodged against a second warrant of arrest issued against them.

“In short, the court has reserved its ruling on the application for the injunction, meaning that court is not ready with its decision. We will keep waiting until the court informs us that it is ready,” their lawyer, Wapona Kita, told the media on Tuesday. This comes after the pair obtained an interdict on February 21, 2021, preventing Malawian police and the Director of Public Prosecutions from effecting their arrest. It occurred just two weeks shy of the pair’s extradition hearing, which was meant to be heard on March 8, but was delayed.

The hearing was postponed to the following Monday after the couple’s legal team launched an application for the recusal of the magistrate in the case, citing “evident bias.” News24 earlier reported that Kita was ready to proceed with the hearing last Monday but then learnt that the magistrate who signed the second warrant of arrest would preside over the case. The pair are wanted in South Africa in connection with fraud and money laundering to the tune of R102 million.

They, however, fled the country to their homeland just a few days after they were granted bail of R200, 000 each – under strict conditions – in the Pretoria Central Magistrate’s Court. Meanwhile in Johannesburg, Bushiri has found himself at the centre of another investigation – this time involving allegations of rape. The Malawian pastor is accused of raping women and girls as young as 16. It is alleged that he bribed the women and girls into silence, and that he drugged and threatened some, according to a Mail and Guardian report. The rapes reportedly took place between 2015 and 2018 in and around Pretoria.

The women claimed Bushiri befriended them and their families at church. Some were reportedly threatened with death by Bushiri or his bodyguards. A victim allegedly fell pregnant but was forced to terminate the pregnancy, the report said. Eight counts of rape have been added to the existing charges which Bushiri faces.