South Africa has issued an arrest warrant for a controversial millionaire preacher Prophet Bushiri who fled South Africa to Malawi after he was granted bail in South Africa where he lives, in a case of alleged fraud and money laundering charges police said. His action is in breach of strict bail conditions that are attached to his bail.
Shepherd Bushiri, a self-proclaimed prophet known for his “miracles” and wildly extravagant lifestyle is co-accused along with his wife, Mary Bushiri. He is Christian preacher, motivational speaker, author and businessman from Malawi who founded and leads a Christian non-denominational evangelical church known as the Enlightened Christian Gathering base in South Africa.
‘A warrant of arrest has been issued this morning by the Pretoria magistrates’ court for the two fugitives,” Katlego Mogale, acting spokeswoman for the South Africa’s elite police unit the Hawks said in a statement on Monday. Bushiri on Saturday said he had fled South Africa as he feared for his life.’
There are claims in the media that the Bushiris fled the country with Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera, who visited South Africa on a two-day official visit during which he held talks with President Cyril Ramaphosa.
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This claim has been denied by both the Malawian and South African governments, saying that immigration officials verified the identities of all passengers on the presidential flight on Friday.
The couple’s bail has been cancelled and they will each forfeit the 200,000 rand ($13,000) they had individually posted.
South Africa has initiated a process to extradite them from Malawi, the government announced at the weekend. The Malawian president in a reaction said he would not intervene in the case. “He will leave it to state institutions to do their job,” Chakwera’s spokesman Brian Banda told.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK