Pastor Bushiri’s family plot to sneak into Kenya in private jet thwarted

Controversial South African preacher Shepherd Bushiri’s family was on Sunday night stopped from leaving Malawi for Kenya.

K24 Digital has established that members of the family were stopped at Kamuzu International Airport from leaving the Southern African country in a private jet.

Among those who were to jet into Kenya were Bushiri's two daughters, Raphaella and Israella, and his mother-in-law Esther Bushiri.

However, the pastor and his wife, Mary, were not on the plane during the incident but authorities suspect that they were also planning to sneak out of the country.

Reports indicate that the family had applied for asylum in Kenya.

Police in Malawi barred the fugitives’ family members from boarding the plane which had been in waiting for hours.

Bushiri on Sunday night told local media in Malawi that his family members were stopped from flying out of the country.

He said that one of his daughters needed serious medical attention, the reason they were headed for Kenya.

In November 2020, Bushiri and his family left South Africa for Malawi after he was granted bail on a money laundering case that he is facing.

The pastor remains a wanted man in South Africa where he is supposed to answer to fraud, money laundering and corruption charges.

The fugitives’ escape from South Africa to Malawi caused a diplomatic tiff between the two countries with President Lazarus Chakwera being accused of being behind the escape.

This even saw President Chakwera detained for hours in South Africa after it emerged that the Bushiri family was missing.

Investigations revealed that the fugitive preacher and his wife were issued with diplomatic passports bearing decoy names and this assisted them to leave South Africa.

Currently, Bushiri is fighting extradition after the South African government asked Malawi to deport them.

The extradition case is expected to kick off on March 6, 2021.