THE High Court in Malawi has on Monday, 13 February overturned the ruling that South African witnesses in the self-proclaimed Prophet Shepherd Bushiri extradition matter could testify before a court in Mzansi.
Bushiri, leader of the Enlightened Christian Gathering Church, his wife Mary made a brief appearance in court.
This was after they appealed the ruling by Lilongwe’s Chief Resident Magistrate.
Initially, the Chief Resident Magistrate ruled that it would be inconvenient, taxing, very costly, unreasonable, or inexpedient to require witnesses to travel to Malawi.
Chief Resident Magistrate Madalitso Chimwaza has ruled that South African witnesses in the extradition hearing in Malawi may give evidence in a South African court.
But the High Court said they do not see any other reasonable reason why the witness could not travel to Malawi.
Presiding over the ruling, Justice Bruno Kalemba said the state should make sure that they bring the witness to Malawi to testify.
In an interview, the Bushiris’ lawyer Wapona Kita said he was satisfied with the ruling.
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He said they will be waiting to hear from the magistrates court as to when the case will continue.
The couple has been the most wanted fugitives in Mzansi since 2020 after they skipped the country, contravening their bail conditions in the multi-million rand fraud case.
The two, with other accused Willard Mudolo, Zethu Mudolo, Landiwe Ntlokwana, Namalarvasagie Reddy, Sateesh Isseri and Stephanie Olivier, face charges of fraud and money laundering involving more than R100 million in Mzansi
Bushiri is also facing eight counts of rape.
While the extradition case continues, in a back and forth court battles, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has told the Tshwane Magistrate Court that they were ready to proceed with the matter.
The matter is due to sit on 20 April for an allocation of the high court date in the absence of the Bushiris.
