The recent acquittal of Nigerian self-styled pastor Tim Omotoso once again not only alerts the public to the sorry shambles at the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), but highlights the urgent need to deal with charlatans, both local and foreign, who take advantage of the country’s freedoms to use religion as a cover to engage in nefarious activities.
Omotoso, who spent eight years behind bars, was found not guilty and acquitted of a slew of 32 sexual assault charges, involving rape, racketeering, and human trafficking. He was alleged to have groomed and abused girls as young as 14. But in April, exactly eight years after his arrest, he walked out of court a free man, after the judge lambasted the prosecution for rank incompetence and failure to corroborate the charges. But the judge wasn’t saying anything new. Sadly, it’s a familiar story. The NPA and incompetence are joined at the hip.
It also turned out that Omotoso was illegally in the country. But when he was rearrested on immigration charges, he again had the last laugh when the matter was thrown out of court. And he was out of the country in a blink of an eye. The NPA is still wiping egg off its face.
It’s been a comedy of errors. A spate of celebrated corruption cases have simply been swept aside by the courts as a result of shoddy work by the prosecution authority.
And it never ends. The latest recipient of NPA generosity is Moroadi Choloto, Ace Magashule’s former assistant, who was extradited from the US with great fanfare for the Free State asbestos case in which her former boss is one of the accused. She was set free after she challenged the lawfulness of her extradition — another black eye for the NPA. Magashule must be licking his lips. His chances of being off the hook soon are more than even.
It’s the incompetence at the NPA that has not only allowed corruption in society to flourish, but for the culprits to disdainfully show no respect or fear for the law.
But apparently, we should try to contain ourselves. We should calm down a bit. There’s no crisis. According to its head, Shamila Batohi, the NPA is doing “a fantastic job”. She’s running a well-oiled ship, she says. One doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Tone-deaf doesn’t even begin to describe her response. We’re certainly in the three-monkey rule territory: see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. None are so blind as those who will not see.
We can’t give up though. The whole democratic project depends on an efficient prosecution authority. A system without any accountability or corrective measures is no different from a lawless jungle. Batohi has to get on her bike. Or be frog-marched out of her office. She’s become a huge liability.
It’s the incompetence at the NPA that has not only allowed corruption in society to flourish, but for the culprits to disdainfully show no respect or fear for the law.
Some religious leaders have unfortunately also been in on the act, taking advantage of both the shoddiness in the application of the law and the free rein that religion is accorded by our constitution. For instance, it guarantees freedom of religion, belief and opinion for all individuals, which includes the right to choose, change or abstain from any religious activity. As a result, fake churches have sprung up throughout the country and false prophets from many parts of the continent have descended on the country to exploit these religious freedoms.
Some of these establishments are nothing but dens of iniquity, involved in drug and even human trafficking. They claim to be able to perform all sort of miracles, including raising people from the dead. And people are flocking to these places, where the gullible are being taken advantage of. The state, probably in deference to the constitution, seems to be reluctant to act against such malpractices.
Omotoso is not the first such purveyor of “good tidings” to fall foul of the law. These pastors have been extremely adept at wiggling their way closer to those in power. Some of our high-profile politicians, for instance, were known to have made regular pilgrimages to Nigeria to pay homage to the late TB Joshua at his Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos. Such exposure attracted many devout followers for Joshua in this country.
In September 2014, at least 67 South Africans died and scores were injured when the church’s guest house collapsed. Joshua claimed the collapse happened as a result of a plane flying over the structure, but it was revealed after his death that he had known the building to be defective and had done nothing about it. Many members also accused Joshua of multiple rapes, torture and forced abortions.
The South African government had to bring the dead and survivors home at taxpayers’ expense. But some of the survivors promptly flew back to Nigeria after their recovery.
Perhaps the most notorious of these so-called televangelists is Shepherd Bushiri, a fugitive from South African justice, and in the news recently for hosting Floyd Shivambu in Malawi. Shivambu was axed as MK Party secretary-general following that visit. Bushiri made a lot of money from his dreamy followers; and he was not disinclined to flaunt his wealth. That included buying his daughter a car worth more than R5m on her fifth birthday. But ultimately, the law caught up with him. Well, almost. In 2020 Bushiri and his wife Mary were arrested on charges of fraud, money laundering and contravening the Prevention of Organised Crime Act. But a starry-eyed magistrate granted the twosome bail, whereupon they promptly sauntered off to Malawi.
The authorities have been trying to get them back to face the music. But given the NPA’s history with extradition, he might as well put his feet up and enjoy his booty. Shivambu’s flirtation with Bushiri is yet another example of politicians’ incomprehensible infatuation with these impostors. The fact that this man is a fugitive from our justice system doesn’t seem to have been a bother either to him or those who sent him.
The law obviously needs to tighten up to stop such abuse. The mainstream churches also have to speak up. It’s their reputations at stake.
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