Prophet Shepherd Bushiri and wife, Mary, are back in court today but, as usual, the case won’t go anywhere because, according to our analysis, the ECG leader has mastered his two key strategies: confuse the court with technicalities and buying off Malawian public.
He has religiously mastered these strategies to the point where any force that stands in the way is tactfully fought either with money or might. For you to understand this story, this analysis will begin with why he left South Africa, what happened when he got in Malawi and why South Africa is not finding it easy to extradite him.
Why he left South Africa
In all his interviews, Bushiri has been consistent that he left South Africa because of two reasons: One, he was not going to face a fair trial; and two, he was afraid of being assassinated.
Don’t believe that.
That was just a propaganda narrative that his fallen legal friend and confidant, Ralph Kasambara, taught him to master and say it to every media outlet that his wayward boy, Ephraim Nyondo, controlled through splashing money.
Bushiri left South Africa because he was tipped by a senior government, who always gave him alerts, that his permanent resident [PR) was fraudulently obtained, as such, it was being revoked. By having his permanent resident revoked, it meant Bushiri was, on a lesser evil, to become an illegal immigrant who could have been deported to Malawi; but, on more dangerous level which South Africa government wanted, all the bails from the two arrests were also going to be revoked.
Remember he was always given bail because of his permanent resident status. If it was going to be revoked, Bushiri was instantly going to prison and they wanted to keep him locked for good the way they did with Reverend Omotoso in Durban.
Tipped of that danger, the tipper told him to waste no minute but hatch a strategy to immediately leave South Africa in whichever way possible. They had targeted to corner him the moment he appeared for bail visits. That is why Bushiri left South Africa. How he did that, is a story for another day.
Bushiri in Malawi
The moment he arrived in Malawi, the late Kasambara posted a picture with him and from that moment most Malawians knew that Bushiri is in safe hands, strategically.
Kasambara told him about the legal battles that will ensue but, we have information, Bushiri got assured that he was in one the world’s best legal hands. Kasambara quickly put up a legal team led by Lusungu Gondwe; it also included Noel Chalamanda and Khumbo Soko. The prolific Wapona Kita, still handling the case, came in after the first team delayed to get Bushiri out of cell after he was arrested with an Interpol warrant of arrest.
Confuse Court with Technicalities
Kita is one prolific, intelligent, confident and well-read lawyer, a pure descendant of Kasambara, who has mastered litigation with content and style and, most importantly, both inside and outside the court. With the case being handled, at first, by the tough and non-comprising Judge Patrick Chirwa and, currently, by another tough lady, Matlida Chimwaza, there has been quite a dim room for Bushiri’s legal team to manoure the case outside the courts. That is why Wapona turned his focus inside the court.
Make not mistake. Kita understands that there is merit in the cause for South Africa to have Bushiri extradited and answer his cases. However, the South Africans submitted to Malawi an extradition request that flouted a series of necessary procedures in an extradition hearing. It is these flouted procedures that Kita is riding on in every court process as he builds his case to have the entire extradition request dismissed.
It is on record, though, that Magistrate Chimwaza once ruled that she will never dismiss the extradition request on technicalities. However, the persuasion in Kita’s shrewdness and his persistence on them will be a movie that, be assured, Malawians will watch until their eyes get sore. That is what Kita want; the case should reach a point where everyone will be tired of it.
Buying off Malawi Public
Beside being briefed on legal battles that were to result, Bushiri knew that his cases in South Africa are sensitive and fighting extradition in court, alone, wasn’t going to suffice. He needed the Malawi public to side and speak with him.
Interestingly, Bushiri did his stakeholders analysis deftly. He knew he wanted, in the first place, to be in good terms with the government machinery. Its not easy to assume what he did, but, from the results, you can tell that Bushiri was, is and, it appears, he will always remain in good terms with the current government.
From how Gospel Kazako, then Information Minister, defended his case against the raging South Africa, Bushiri has never had rough ride even in critical ministries such Justice, Homeland Security, Defence and recently, Tourism and Agriculture. They have all, at least publicly, shown that Bushiri is their own and they don’t have qualms with him. Did money exchanged hands? We don’t know.
Beside managing the government machinery, Bushiri also made sure that strategic noise makers such as CSOs, the media, social media influencers, celebrities, traditional leaders, artists, you name it; he brought everyone to him. That is why against several misgivings of Bushiri, the media is always positive, CSOs hardly issues statements against him and all that. Did money exchanged hands? We don’t know.
Further, to the general public, Bushiri has been so robust in winning the hearts of, mostly, local people with his unrelenting distribution of free maize, helping Cyclone victims, sending stranded kids to school, paying fees for targeted students in secondary and tertiary education facilities, sponsoring the Women Football league, constructing houses for the elderly and supporting various individuals and organisations that serve a good cause.
These gestures, worth close to a billion as spent between 2021 and 2024, have created an acceptance among the general public that Bushiri is a good man who needs to be protected from these South Africans eager to assassinate him using extradition.
The downside
Arguably, Bushiri is winning on his strategies to frustrate the entire extradition process both through clever lawyering and a supportive bought off publics.
In this venture, it must be underlined, Bushiri has spent billions and though he is winning, it is a win which is coming at a huge cost. He is using the money that different people gave him to build Goshen City. Today, 2 years later, Goshen is turning almost into a white elephant.
