Enlightened Christian Gathering Church leader Prophet Shephered Bushiri and his wife Mary have escaped the country in violation of his bail conditions set by the Pretoria Magistrate court.
To top it, he had now given the South African government an ultimatum demanding that they guarantee the safety of his family before he can consider returning to face his charges of money laundering, fraud and theft.
The ECG church leader has also asked the government to commit that his and his wife ‘s bail would not be revoked at any point during the case and that officers currently involved in the case must recuse themselves.
The startling details are contained in a media statement issued on Saturday morning in which Bushiri and his wife Mary confirmed the news of their escape from the country and were back in their home country of Malawi.
Bushiri’s escape from the country happened on the back of Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera’s working visit to South Africa during the week.
“I would like to inform the general public that my wife, Mary, and I are temporarily in our home country, Malawi, because of safety and security issues since 2015, matters that got worse when we just got out on bail.
There have been clear and evident attempts to have myself, my wife and my family killed and despite our several attempts to report to authorities, there has never been State protection.
Our coming to Malawi, hence, is a tactical withdrawal from the Republic of South Africa solely meant to preserve our lives.
These attempts have been heightened with recent spates of arrests and detentions that we felt the only way for us to clear our names before the law is to ensure that our lives are preserved. My wife and I strongly believe in our innocence but this cannot be proved if our lives are not preserved. We have to be alive to testify to our innocence.
As we stand here, we were arrested in 2019 on allegedly money laundering charges and it’s getting to three years now without trial because the State is not ready to give it.
As we keep waiting for that trial to come, we were arrested again, kept in custody for over two weeks and we are not sure if we will face trial. Equally shocking is the fact that as we kept waiting to get the facts of the recent arrest, the State brought up immigration issues that they, not us, owe the public an explanation. But they want us to explain.
Against this background, we have come to a painful conclusion that what my wife and I have faced in the Republic of South Africa, since 2015, is purely persecution NOT prosecution,” reads the statement.
In the same statement Bushiri said he felt hard done by the country and the police stating that he had opened cases of extortion and intimidation against some of the officers involved in his trial, but said nothing came of them, indicating that he was arrested by the same officers he had complained about.
“Obviously, there can never be independence and impartiality. It’s purely acts of open vengeance. This, I must say, clearly violates rules of natural justice which says justice must not just be done but be seen to be done,” he said.
He said him leaving South Africa should not be seen as him running away from his court trials and he said him and his wife still want to clear their names.
But he said they thought they could not do so in justice system that’s not fair, impartial and just trial.
Bushiri issued the following ultimatum to the South African government demanding that it t first address them before he can consider coming back to be tried:
“1. First, I want the South African government to assure us of our safety and security whilst in South Africa.
- Secondly, I want the South African government to assure us that our bail will not be revoked. Our right to fair trial entails that we have access to our lawyers all the time. Revocation of the bail defeats our right to fair trial and also exposes us to further security and safety challenges.
- Thirdly, I want the officers involved in investigating, arresting and prosecuting us to recuse themselves. As earlier said, this is the same team that I earlier lodged complaint against and, also, opened cases against. I won’t have a fair trial with their continued involvement.
- Fourthly, I want the South African State to see to it that all the issues I lodged and opened against these officers must be pursued to their logical conclusion before proceeding with our case.
- Finally, I want the South African State to appoint independent and professional investigators and prosecutors who should make independent decisions on the cases we are allegedly accused of.
In this regard, I am requesting Malawi government to liaise with the South African government to ensure that the above issues are met.”
Bushiri’s escape raises a lot of questions about the effectiveness of home affairs and the police work, especially on how he managed to leave the country while all his passports have been surrendered to the police.
