THE Chief Resident Magistrates Court in Lilongwe, Malawi has failed to start hearing the testimony of a South African witness in the ongoing extradition case of Prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife, Mary.
The couple appeared before Chief Resident Magistrate Madalitso Chimwaza on Tuesday, 30 May for the first day of the hearing in their extradition case.
The matter was postponed to 10 July after the Bushiris' lawyer, Wapona Kita, made an application in court that the witness statements were not authenticated according to the Malawian extradition law.
Kita said the extradition request must be dismissed without hearing the so-called evidence in support of it, arguing that all witnesses are not authenticated according to the two rulings on this matter.
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State lawyer Dziko Malunda said the defence lawyer ambushed them with the application as they were not warned beforehand. He said the defence should have filed a formal application to avoid more time being wasted.
Chimwaza adjourned the matter to July and gave the defence 14 days to make a formal application, and another 14 days for the state to respond.
Meanwhile, South Africa was expected to parade witnesses as ordered by the high court in Malawi.
In February 2023, the Malawi High Court ruled that witnesses from Mzansi should travel to Malawi and physically testify in the extradition case.
A South African delegation, which comprised of senior prosecutors from the National Prosecuting Authority, the Investigative Directorate and investigators from South African Police Services, arrived in Malawi last week.
The court heard that the state lined up six witnesses but now only one witness, who is a director of Public Prosecutions for Gauteng, will testify.
