Bushiri co-accused Willah Mudolo refused permission to leave country

ONE of the people accused of allegedly defrauding members of the Enlightened Christian Gathering alongside fugitive prophet Shepherd Bushiri, Willah Mudolo, may not leave the country for now.

Mudolo may only leave pending the outcome of the high-profile trial when it eventually gets under way, this was the ruling in the Pretoria High Court.

It came after the director of public prosecutions launched an appeal earlier this month in the high court against a ruling issued by the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court granting Mudolo bail allowing him to travel out of the country.

His bail was initially denied because he was regarded as a flight risk, but Mudolo launched a new bail application on “new facts” and bail was granted by the lower court.

His wife and co-accused, Zethu Mudolo, was released on bail before him.

Among the conditions was that they could not travel outside Gauteng without informing the investigating officer. They were also not allowed to travel outside South Africa’s borders.

After appealing to the court, the conditions restricting overseas travel were removed.

Mudolo is a Zambian, and his wife a South African.

Both stated that they had various businesses and that they needed to travel abroad to conduct business. His wife was granted bail of R20 000 and Mudolo’s bail was R250 000, coupled with various conditions.

In an earlier bail application, Mudolo said he employed a number of people whose families depended on him for financial support and his continued incarceration affected his employees and companies because he could not generate income.

He also said that the fact Bushiri and his wife Mary had left the country and that the extradition process relating to them could take some time, thus delaying the trial, was another reason he should be granted bail.

High Court Judge Papi Mosopa said that initially his businesses were said to be located in Hong Kong and Zambia, but as the bail applications progressed, more were added. Investigations were done on the business addresses provided and some were confirmed to exist (some only on paper), while the Hong Kong business could not be confirmed.

The judge said the lower court erred in finding that it would “cripple” the respondents financially if they were not allowed to meet their business obligations abroad by travelling there.

The judge said that based on his own admission, Mudolo indicated that he trained his wife as a co-director in his companies, so she could interact and assess their businesses.

“As such, she can travel beyond the borders of the republic and perform her duties as a co-director of the companies and also act on behalf of the first respondent through a company resolution,” the judge said.

The judge did not revoke the couple’s bail, but he did order that Mudolo may no longer travel abroad.