The Malawi government has signed extradition papers for self-proclaimed Prophet Shepherd Bushiri and wife Mary.
The pair fled South Africa last month while they were out on bail.
The leaders of the Enlightened Christian Gathering Church are facing fraud and money laundering charges worth R100 million.
The Pretoria Magistrates Court granted the pair bail despite alarms being raised on the legitimacy of their passports.
Malawi launched its own investigation into the matter, saying that if the Bushiri’s were extradited, the decision would have to be in line with Malawian law.
Government spokesperson Gospel Kazako said that they had now reached this decision.
MALAWI COURT TO DECIDE ON BUSHIRI WARRANT OF ARREST
Meanwhile, the courts in Malawi now have the task of deciding whether to grant that country’s government a warrant of arrest for the Bushiris.
It has taken the Malawian government weeks to come to the decision to extradite the couple to South African for trial.
Kazako said the law informed their decision.
“Whatever we are doing in this part of the world, especially in Malawi, we do things that are informed by the law. So, we are just following the law,” Kazako said.
He said they wanted the courts to grant them permission to issue a warrant of arrest for the Bushiris.
“When the court has a look at these papers, that we cannot know because the courts are very independent in Malawi,” he said.
Kazako said the papers from government would be submitted to the court on Monday afternoon.
-EWN
