LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-High Court in Malawi on Tuesday, February 8, 2022 agreed with Magistrate Court’s ruling that the extradition matter involving Prophet Shepherd Bushiri and wife, Mary, be conducted by way of preliminary inquiry as provided for under our laws.
Preliminary inquiry is where, among others, you allow all witnesses to be examined and cross-examined in the court.
In his ruling, Judge Redison Kapindu also advised Magistrate to be open and flexible in listening to alternatives of hearing witnesses which may include virtual hearing.
Bushiri’s lawyer Wapona Kita says: “We are happy that the Court has agreed with our position on what a preliminary inquiry entails, which is that witnesses must come to physically give evidence.
“The Judge of course added that only in exceptional circumstances can the Magistrate Court depart from the physical hearings. As to the way forward, our friends from the State are the ones who are supposed to take the next move; for now on the receiving end.”
Prophet Shepherd Bushiri badly wanted by South African government
In the extradition case involving Prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary, the State has appealed to the High Court to review the lower court’s decision of bringing South African witnesses to testify physically in Malawi courts.
According to spokesperson of Prophet Bushiri, Ephraim Nyondo, lawyer Wapona Kita representing the Prophet and his wife has been served with the order from the High Court calling for the file from the magistrate court for review of the order on the physical attendance of witnesses in Malawi.
“I have not yet been served with any grounds for the review so I can’t comment much. We will just have to wait as we are now on the receiving end,” Kita said.
On 29th March 2021, Chief Resident Magistrate Patrick Chirwa ordered that South Africa should bring to Malawi witnesses against Bushiri to testify and also to be cross-examined by the accused through their lawyers.
However, though the State, through Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Steve Kayuni, complied with the order and told the court they were ready, a twist came in when the State applied before the court to have witnesses testify through video conferencing citing Covid-19 fears, an application the courts dismissed.
The State’s application comes barely two weeks before the July 12th date the Magistrate set to resume the trial with South African witnesses in Malawi court.
The High Court has since confirmed that the date of the review shall be fixed within July 2021.
Prophet Bushiri appeared more than three times before South Africa courts to be tried but he was never given trial because the State kept seeking adjournment on grounds that witnesses were not ready.
Prophets Shepherd and Mary Bushiri heading into Court
The Lilongwe Chief Magistrate Court has dismissed an application from self-acclaimed Prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife, Mary, to have their extradition case be thrown out.
The court has also dismissed their request to have their case referred to the Constitutional Court for determination if the Southern African Development Community (SADC) extradition protocol should be used in Malawian court.
Bushiri’s’ lawyer Wapona Kita claimed that Malawi signed the SADC extradition protocol, which requires member States to domesticate the protocol before using it in their respective countries, but Malawi is yet to do that.
Kita also wanted three judges of the High Court to sit as a Constitutional Court to determine if the protocol in question can be applied in expediting a local matter.
In his determination, Chief Resident Magistrate Patrick Chirwa stated the SADC protocol is applicable in Malawi and does not raise any constitutional concerns as such the case does not need to be referred to the Chief Justice, Andrew Nyirenda.
He also said the matter can ably be handled by the Magistrate’s Court and proceeded with hearing of the case.
The couple is wanted by South African authorities over theft, money laundering and fraud charges.
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera Tonse government is refusing to have Prophet Bushiri accusers in South Africa to appear before Lilongwe Magistrate Court to authenticate evidence contained in the extradition request.
Bushiri’s lawyer, Wapona Kita on Monday, March 22, 2021 argued before the court that, according to Section 9 of the Extradition Act, witnesses are supposed to be paraded for authentication of evidence contained in the extradition request.
Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Steve Kayuni alleged that if it brings witnesses and evidence it would be violating the rights of the Bushiri’s by subjecting them to two trials – even though the Bushiri’s want the state to prove the witnesses exist and the evidence is sufficient.
Bushiri symphasizers captured at the court
He further argued that the affidavits sent by South Africa should be treated as evidence and the court must not accept witnesses to be called or the evidence against the Bushiri’s to be tested.
Kita, however, slapped Kayuni arguing that the State cannot rely solely on what is stated in the extradition request, without checking the authenticity of the information of if at all the evidence is sufficient or verified.
“The reasoning is that the state must not rely on evidence it has not seen or authenticated while pursuing an extradition. The Extradition Act itself in section 9 is clear that and how evidence must be received. It says the court has same jurisdictions as a preliminary inquiry and the hearing cannot deviate from that,” he said.
Magistrate Patrick Chirwa has since adjourned the hearing to Monday 29th March for ruling on the matter.
Bushiri and wife Mary fled South Africa last year after they were granted bail on charges of fraud and money laundering.
However fresh published reports show that South African prosecutors also accuse Bushiri of raping girls.
Prophet Shepherd Bushiri speaking to journalist after being granted bail
BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-Principal Resident Magistrate Viva Nyimba has ordered the release of Prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary who were arrested based on South Africa’s provisional request to detain him pending formal request for extradition.
During the court proceedings, government’s Senior State Advocate Dr Steve Kayuni applied for the Prophet and his wife to further be detained for 30 days pending formal extradition request from South African government.
Kayuni said Malawi government has received a provisional request from SA government to detain the Bushiris while they wait for formal request which will be made through diplomatic channels.
Kayuni argued the the accused are a flight risk considering how they fled South Africa.
He argued “the couple fled the strict bail conditions they were under in SA and there is no guarantee that they can abide with bail conditions here.”
But Wapona Kita, Bushiris’ legal counsel told the court that the sworn statements of the two tell a sad story of how the fugitives are being persecuted in South Africa.
He therefore said they apply for their release unconditionally because they were arrested illegally here in Malawi.
He argued the couple presented themselves to the arresting authorities before a warrant of arrest was issued.
Kita further argued that the court was sitting illegally as the minister of justice has not issued an authority to proceed with the case
He also argued that they were applying for their unconditional release because there is no warrant of arrest from Malawi.
He said the two cannot be arrested using a warrant of arrest issued in South Africa.
Giving his ruling, Nyimba has ruled that the arrest was illegal and therefore ordered unconditional release of the couple from police custody.
Nyimba argued that his ruling is based on legality of the arrest and what happened in South Africa is for another day.
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The state through Senior Assistant Chief State Advocate, Steven Kayuni on Tuesday failed to move the court with evidence on charges against Rwandan businessman Vincent Murekezi who is suspected to have a hand in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
Murekezi was arrested on December 8, 2016 after Rwanda National Prosecution spokesman Nkusi Faustin confirmed that they have been asking Malawi for the extradition of Murekezi from 2009.
Later the state came again with fresh charges that the suspect absconded court appearance on corruption-related charges, jumped bail and sneaked out to Zimbabwe using a Malawi Passport in 2008.
He appeared before court on December 13 where his case hearing was supposed to start.
Rwandan genocide suspect Vincent Murekezi
However senior assistant chief state advocate Steven Kayuni applied for the adjournment of the case saying the case involves international law hence need for the adjournment.
He said there was need to consult the Rwanda government and further asked for more 21 days to properly scrutinize the case.
Murekezi who is still on remand at Maula prison in the capital Lilongwe, was supposed to appear before court on Tuesday for the determination of his charges the state leveled against him following the expiry of the 21 days which the state applied for.
But the state failed to show up at the court to provide evidence, a development which has angered the defense counsel.
In an exclusive interview with The Maravi Post at the court premises, Wapona Kita, a lawyer representing Murekezi expressed sadness over the state’s conduct.
Kita said it was unlawful for state to fail to bring evidence against their client as the court remains unmoved with the case.
He added that the defence team will wait from the state while looking into other avenues to release his client from prison remand.
Lawyer Kita who has taken defence team leadership from Gift Katundu argued that it was wrong for the state to bring in the issue of 2008 corruption charges, court appearance and bail abscondment and warrant of arrest at the time the defence has not even applied for bail in the genocide case.
“Looking at the way the state arrested my client we thought today, they move the court with evidence that case should resume. But we are surprised that today the state failed to show up without giving any concrete reasons.
“We will still wait the state while adventuring other avenues for the release of our client from remand prison as 21 days have expired without evidence”, said Kita.
Efforts to get reaction from Chief State Advocate Kayuni who is currently handling the matter before it is committed to the court proved futile as his mobile phone was out of reach.
Last month, The Maravi Post exclusively made revelations to the public that the UN documents and files indicated that Vincent Murekezi who is suspected to have a hand in the mass killing of 500,000 to 900,000 Tutsi in Rwanda popularly known as Rwandan Genocide, is not on the wanted list of the UN notorious list of Rwanda Genocide suspect.
Further investigations revealed that Vincent is believed to be a victim of his former friends who used to do business with him and their business deals went sour, and since they have political connections in Rwanda they decided to implicate him.
Consequently, the concerned citizens led by Philip Kamangira through the press conference on Thursday, in the capital Lilongwe had withdrawn the petition presented to Malawi Parliament some weeks ago that demanded the extradition of Murekezi.
The grouping withdrawal was based on misinformation gotten from the third party believed to be Murekezi’s business competitors saying they persecuted an innocent person.
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