LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-Prophet Shepherd Bushiri and wife, Mary, arrived in Malawi on 11th November 2020 after they left South Africa for two reasons: One, to preserve their lives after several death threats and; two, because they were certain that they will never get a fair trial for the cases they were facing.
On 14th November 2020, Prophet Bushiri spoke to the entire world, revealing that he is in Malawi and he is seeking justice before Malawi’s Constitution, something he could not find in South Africa.
On 18th November 2020, Prophet Bushiri and wife, Mary, submitted themselves before Malawi Police after a word reached them that there was an Interpol warrant of arrest for them. The couple spent a night in a cooler and on the 19th November 2020, they appeared before the Magistrate Court.
In his ruling, Principal Magistrate Viva Nyimba ordered the unconditional release of Prophet Bushiri and his wife, Mary, for the arrest was illegal as it did not follow the right extradition procedures.
Further, Magistrate Nyimba ruled and underlined that if the courts will need the Bushiris on extradition, they should NOT be subjected to arrest BUT summoned through the courts.
The Malawi government, however, appealed against Nyimba’s ruling. They were, singularly, against the fact that Prophet Bushiri and wife, Mary, should not be arrested but summoned by the courts. They still wanted the way of arrest.
In a surprising twist, the Malawi government—through its Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Steve Kayuni—moved to withdraw the appeal case though Prophet Bushiri, through his lawyers, wanted its logical conclusion.
Shockingly, if not confusingly, Malawi Government has gone back to the Magistrate Court, seeking a warrant of arrest for Prophet Bushiri and wife as part of beginning their extradition processes—yet the same court already ruled that they should not be arrested but just summoned.
This Wednesday, the 6th of January, the Magistrate Court is having an inter-partes hearing with regards to the State decision to apply for the Bushiris to be arrested and not to attend court through summons.
The question is: Instead of just summoning the couple to begin the extradition processes, why is Malawi government still pushing courts for warrant of arrests?
