Sema Fonkem 21/11/2025

Matthew 5:40 “And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well,” was clearly not written for everyone to practice. 

In November 2020, Chipiliro Gama also known as Shepherd Bushiri, Major 1 and his wife Prophetess Mary fled South Africa after fearing for their lives due to alleged threats made by corrupt South African law enforcement top officials.

Before leaving for Malawi, Gama was the lead preacher of his Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG), now rebranded as The Jesus Nation Church. 

According to Gama, his church delivers prophecies on people’s lives, touch hearts and heal the world through the words of Jesus.

Shepherd Bushiri has spoken to the media on several occasions and insist his main reason to leave South Africa for Malawi was to secure the lives of himself and his beloved wife.

Gama claims the rape and money laundering cases being heard at the High Court in Pretoria, South Africa are a blackmail setup by South African corrupt cops who have been asking him for protection fees.

Gama says the corrupt senior police officers demanded about R12 million from him if he wanted to avoid arrest on the rape, financial crimes allegations and to keep his church open.

According to Shepherd Bushiri, a disgruntled former member from his church was responsible for recruiting women to open rape cases against him and when the corrupt senior police officers found out about the scheme, they decided to partake in the act of extortion.

Gama recently emphasised during an ENCA interview that after he refused to pay bribes to corrupt South African cops, threats on his life escalated and assassinations attempts on his life began. He claims his car exploded outside Sheraton hotel in Pretoria but no evidence has been made public to prove that.

Gama’s convoy was attacked on February 07 2020 in Sandton, South Africa by men who appeared to be armed robbers at first glance. The supposed robbers left the scene without taking anything from the vehicle occupants.

Gama believes the February 07 2020 attack could have been a warning that he was being watched by the alleged corrupt cops. More so, he suspects the men were there to kill him but did not succeed as he was not present during the incident.

The Jesus Nation Church leader claims that in January 2020, a gunman entered his church kill him but failed in the assassination attempt because he was alerted by well-wishers.

In 2018, Gama opened a case with the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) but unfortunately while IPID was planning to carry out an arrest, things took another turn.

On February 01 2019, Gama and his wife were arrested on suspicion of fraud, money laundering, and contravention of Prevention of Organised Crime ACT (POCA). On February 06 2019 the couple was granted R100,000.00 bail each.

The couple was arrested again in October 2020 on separate charges of fraud, money, laundering and theft worth over R102 million (approximately USD6.6 million).

In Gama’s response to the accusations, he claims some men in his church approached him and proposed an investment opportunity that he believed to be lucrative for his followers. When some of his congregants began complaining about receiving zero returns, he decided to undertake damage control by paying them back the money they have lost in the hopes of recovering the funds from the persons who had presented the business plan to him.

Shepherd Bushiri claims he has paid about R60 million to some investors who lost money and is still willing to pay those who have not yet been refunded after the court case at Pretoria High Court has been concluded.

Gama believes paying back money lost by his church members during the investment scheme is an act of acknowledgement that he is indirectly responsible for their financial loses. 

Gama has told the public that part of serving God and humanity is to make sure people do not suffer when they visit his church but get replenishment for their hard work.

Gama claims South African auditing firm, KPMG found that his organisation never benefited from the investment funds. It is now left for the court to determine that he was never part of the scheme beyond reasonable doubt.

Although the Pretoria Magistrates Court initially regarded Gama and his wife as flight risks, on November 04 2020 the couple was granted a bail of R200,000.00 each on condition that they hand in their passports and report to the nearest police station every Monday and Friday.

On November 14 2020, Gama released a statement that he and his wife have fled South Africa and gone to their home country for safety.

Speaking on different platforms, Gama has made it clear that he was never arrested for any of the rape charges even though present in South Africa at the time the suppose cases were opened because the cops were hoping he will give in to the extortion attempts and pay the initial protection fees of about R2 million which was being demanded. 

Gama continues to tell the public that even though he and his wife violated their bail conditions, he chose being alive and free over being possibly dead or rot in a South African prison without justice.

Gama and his wife continue to receive a strong backing from the Malawian government and a High Court judge finding that their right to life outweighed the need to face trial in South Africa. The threat to life and lack of protection from South African Police Service (SAPS) are two reasons the Malawian justice system denied extradition of the couple to South Africa.

Gama’s case in South Africa continues to shed light on possible corruption within law enforcement agencies across the globe. 

Shepherd Bushiri’s escape from South Africa gives modern day Christians new guidance on what decision to make when faced with danger in the hands captors; which is to run as fast as you can or remain silent, pray and be killed.

Gama’s has been applauded by his followers across social media for his refusal to pay bribes and efforts to preserve his life to continue to do the work of God 

Gama’s church still operates across South Africa led by appointed pastors.