Malawi: Bushiri Extradition Order Thrown Out As Malawi Court Delivers Final Ruling

What the report says

A Malawi High Court in Lilongwe has issued its final ruling in the extradition case involving preacher Shepherd Bushiri and his wife, Mary, according to Nyasa Times as distributed by AllAfrica. The court upheld its earlier decision to set aside an extradition order that would have sent the couple to South Africa, where they have faced longstanding legal proceedings.

The article says the judgment runs to 175 pages and explains why the extradition order, granted in March 2025, could not stand. A central reason cited by the court was that the Bushiris were not given an opportunity to be heard before the order was made, which the court viewed as a serious procedural flaw.

The ruling is a major setback for South Africa’s effort to have the couple returned under that order and appears to close the matter unless the state chooses to appeal, according to the report. Their lawyer, Wapona Kita, said the decision confirms that the Bushiris cannot be extradited on the quashed order. The case has drawn wide attention in the region since the couple left South Africa and returned to Malawi in 2020. More broadly, extradition disputes often turn on procedural fairness and whether courts are satisfied that legal requirements were followed.