In an ambiguous move, the Botswanan government has with immediate effect close down much-heralded and controversial Prophet Shepherd Bushiri’s Enlightened Christian Gathering ((ECG) church.
Minister of Labour and Home Affairs Edwin Jenamiso Batshu has confirmed the development.
Speaking to Zambian Observer, Batshu said that the ECG church has been closed for its continued violating of the law in terms of fake money. It is alleged that Bushiri’s church is involved in miracle money the Botswana government consider illegal.
Other theories have surfaced following the mega church’s shutdown. The loudest of all has been that Bushiri, who is Malawian but based in Pretoria, South Africa hacked FNB Botswana in order to clean his dirty money mostly known as ‘miracle money.’
This came after FNB Botswana blocked all unknown transactions going into different accounts of Botswana beginning of this year(2018), the government of Botswana through its security agents (forensic experts) managed to see where everything started.
Allegedly, it is in light of these ‘ruses’ that the authorities in Botswana have said no ECG branch will operate in Botswana. It is reported that Bushiri, who had another unpleasant experience with the Department of Immigration and Citizenship over a VISA application last year, use those different branches to steal, traffic money and launder money.
The government of Botswana also accuse Bushiri of fuelling division, terrorism and exploiting Botswana using the name of God. Bushiri is also reported to be involved in drug smuggling and illegal mining.
However, information has arises that say that ECG Church officials in Botswana have already appealed to Minister Batshu to reconsider the decision. The grounds of the appeal are yet to be disclosed.
The church ban comes just shortly after Management of Africa’s largest soccer arena, FNB Stadium in South Africa, has named Prophet Shepherd Bushiri as Africa’s most crowd puller after he successful Crossover Night which attracted over 100 000 people.
According to Nyasa Times in the twenty-nine years of FNB Stadium’s operation, no person has ever done what Prophet Bushiri keeps achieving by consistently filling the stadium with ever-increasing figures. Since the first 2015/16 Crossover Night, dubbed the Night of Lion of Judah; through the 2016/17 one, dubbed Night of Honey; Prophet Bushiri has been a consistent crowd puller with the recent one, dubbed Night of Angel Gabriel, seeing 100 000 tickets, selling at R10, selling out in 9 days.
Bushiri is also said to own investment companies with various entities such as hotels, airlines, consultancy agencies, mobile networks, mining, to name but a few.
The Church closure in Botswana is not the first case where the flamboyant student of prophecy has been at loggerheads with the authorities. Last year, Shepherd Bushiri International University, a higher learning institution he owned ended its operations. The followed after the South African authorities revealed that it was operating illegally as it was not registered with the country’s Department of Higher Education.
In the same year, Bushiri was arrested at JFK Airpot for drug trafficking and was released on a $100, 000 bail.
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