Prophet Shepherd Bushiri and wife Mary Bushiri have handed themselves to the Malawi Police Service.
Bushiri’s spokesperson Ephraim Nyondo has confirmed the arrest of the two which comes hours after Malawi Police failed to arrest them at their home in Lilongwe.
The Malawi Police Service were looking for Bushiri and wife after Interpol issued a warrant of arrest for the two.
Bushiri and Mary Bushiri fled to Malawi last week after jumping bail in South Africa where they are accused of fraud, theft and money laundering.
On Saturday, Bushiri said he is in Malawi to seek government’s intervention regarding his case and he asked to meet government officials.
However, State House said President Lazarus Chakwera will not meet anyone regarding the matter, will not grant favours to Bushiri and will not issue any directives. According to State House, Chakwera will let law enforcement agencies handle the matter in accordance with the law.
This morning, Bushiri said he has not come to Malawi to seek to seek political intervention but to seek justice before the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi.
In a statement this morning, Bushiri said he has strong belief in the Constitution of Malawi because it protects every citizen.
He added that he will explain to law enforcement agencies his decision to escape from South Africa and come to Malawi.
Meanwhile, authorities in South Africa have revoked bail for the Bushiris and are seeking the couple’s extradition.
PROPHET BUSHIRI’S MESSAGE TO SADC COMMUNITY, THE AFRICAN CONTINENT AND THE WORLD
RELEASED NOVEMBER 18 2020
Lilongwe: On Tuesday morning, 17 November 2020, the Minister of Home Affairs in South Africa, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, MP, addressed the Portfolio Committee in Parliament that oversees and holds the Minister to account on issues relating to his ministry, amongst others, immigration.
In his preliminary report, the Minister took the Committee through the process that his department employs to keep track of movement of the people entering and leaving of South Africa.
He also went into the process that is followed within his department when permits are issued.
Unfortunately, during the said briefing, the Minister went into the merits of our pending criminal trial as well as the existing internal processes within his ministry in which he is the appeals authority.
This is one of the processes that my wife and I should follow during the process that has been interdicted by the High Court in South Africa, which the Minister also indicated that he was disappointed when our rights were protected by the Court.
The Minister further went on to state that our Permanent Residence permits are irregular and therefore our stay in South Africa is unlawful because (1) My wife and I misrepresented facts to induce his department to issue the permits and (2) his department issued incorrect permits to us due to their oversight. Therefore, his department has decided to revoke our permits.
This is but one of the many injustices that I feared would befall me and my wife.
This internal process is already prejudged by the Minister before I submit my representations on why our permits should not be revoked because we did nothing wrong.
The Minister went on to state that my wife and I hold five different passports each. The impression is that these are passports with different names and details. Once again, this issue is before the High Court in South Africa.
This statement by the Minister further strengthen my fear that I will not get a fair trial in South Africa.
For the record, my wife and have 5 passports each, one of which is a diplomatic passport and one is a normal passport. we submitted all these passports to the Investigating Officer in South Africa.
Because we are frequent travelers due to the work of our ministry, the other passports are full, however, they have international visas and hence we kept them. There is nothing sinister about that. Even the Immigration Department in Malawi has attested to that.
In this regard, it would never be an understatement to conclude that of the fears of the injustices that I am fearing, the reason I came to Malawi, has just been confirmed by Honourable Motsoaledi, MP. The whole world was watching and saw for themselves.
I need to underline that I came to Malawi not to seek political intervention. I came to Malawi to seek justice before the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi.
I have strong belief in the Constitution of Malawi because it protects its every citizen including my wife and I.
Because of that, I will be presenting myself before law enforcement agencies this morning to legally explain and defend the decisions that I made to come to Malawi.
I am innocent until proven guilty. As of now, there is no court in the world that has proven me guilty. I may be subjected by media and public trial but I mantain my innocence until proven guilty.
It is unfortunate, therefore, to have the Minister of Home Affairs in South Africa to intentionally and unfairly mislead the people of South Africa and the whole world in this regard.
I cannot have a fair trial in South Africa!