Bushiris extradition case adjourned to March 11
The Lilongwe Chief Resident Magistrate’s Court has adjourned to March 11 2024 the extradition case involving Enlightened Christian Gathering leader Prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary to allow the State finalise preparations.
The adjournment yesterday followed an application by senior assistant chief State advocate Dzikondianthu Malunda for more time to allow a South African witness Sibongile Mnzinyathi, who delayed coming to court on Monday due to flight connections, to consult with the State on the case.
The witness, who is the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for Gauteng Province in South Africa, arrived at the court seven hours after the scheduled time of the hearing and he informed the court that he was delayed due to flight connection hurdles in Kenya.
In her ruling, chief resident magistrate Madalitso Chimwaza said any additional disclosures should be filed before the hearing as thereafter, the court will be dealing with the substantive matter.
Reads the ruling: “This court concurs with counsel for the defence and would like to observe with disapproval the conduct of the State [Republic of South Africa], that indeed these directions were given October 2023, and it was expected that the State being the initiators of the current proceedings should have been vigilant in observing and complying with directions of the court, but this has not been the case and it is unfortunate.”
The court, however, indicated that it is not its wish to dispose of the matter on technicalities and also that it is satisfied with the reasons advanced by the State for seeking the adjournment, considering that the flight complications that arose were out of their control.
The court also ruled that each party will bear its own costs, saying there will be no prejudice to be suffered by the fugitive offenders if the matter were to be adjourned.
On Monday, defence lawyers Wapona Kita and Alicia Roos queried the witness on the whereabouts of the original copy of the extradition request, arguing that if the document does not exist, then there is no reason for the case to proceed.
But Malunda objected to the line of questioning, saying it was not relevant as the witness was ordered to come to court to explain about his failure to appear before it in the morning.
The Bushiris were not at court yesterday. They are answering criminal charges in South Africa where they fled in November 2020 while on bail, and South African authorities are seeking their extradition to face trial.
