Wapona Kita, lawyer representing Shepherd Bushiri in the extradition case , has informed the Lilongwe Chief resident court that South African advocate Annelene Van De Heever, who previously represented Bushiri in South Africa, had recently joined the legal team and sought admission to practice in Malawi.
He explained that on ” October 18, Annelene Van De Heever appeared before the chief justice, and her application was not dismissed by both the Malawi Law Society and the Attorney General”.
Meanwhile the Lilongwe Chief Resident Magistrate Court is expected to make a decision on Tuesday morning regarding the state’s request to adjourn the Bushiri extradition case to 2024.
Chief State Advocate Dzikondianthu Malunda has proposed a rescheduling to either the last week of February or the first week of March.
Malunda clarified the necessity for additional time to confer with State witness Sibongire Mzinyathi, the Director of Public Prosecution for Gauteng Province in South Africa.
“As you have seen he only arrive in the afternoon2 O’clock at the airport and 4 O’clock at the airport , that is the basis for th application” said Malunda
Malunda added that “you incorporate the holidays that are taking place, take away the two weeks and also our diaries are engaged already so for December dates are taken and also factoring in the fact that the South African governments as you heard in the court, the process for them to get an approval to testify in Malawi is lengthy so we don’t want a a situation where we adjourn to January and they are also not able to appear in court”.
In response, Wapona Kita, the lawyer representing the Bushiris, expressed that the adjournment could have been avoided if the South African government had utilized a direct flight from South Africa to Malawi.
“I think the bottom line we are sharing is that they are not ready to proceed with this matter even if he came earlier today” said Kita.
The court on 10th October 2023 granted the state a 60-day adjournment in the extradition case of Prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife, Mary.
The state sought a 21-day adjournment to facilitate the processing of pertinent case documents.
However, the court ordered the state to cover the costs of the proceedings, amounting to five hundred and sixty thousand kwacha which have so far been paid to the Bushiris.
The South African government is pursuing the extradition of Bushiri and his wife on charges related to money laundering, theft and fraud.
