Malawian preacher, Shepherd Bushiri, has broken his silence regarding the backlash he faced after requesting that his followers ignore instructions from their husbands and continue to donate money to his church during the lockdown.
In an Instagram post on Monday, 6 April 2020, Bushiri addressed the accusations made against him, which claimed that he had ordered his female followers to disobey their husbands. The statement follows a livestream from early Monday, which saw the preacher appealing to his followers to continue donating money to his church amidst the lockdown, as he plans on donating the money towards helping with the coronavirus pandemic. His choice of words created pandemonium on social media, as he stated, “I want you to put your offering in the church account. Don’t listen to the devil. Don’t listen to what people say. Don’t listen to what your mind says. Don’t listen to what your man says,” which led to social media users’ outrage.
In the response statement shared on Instagram, the preacher claimed that he did not say those words, and the backlash he has received is the work of the devil. He said, “Someone with the wrong motive and intentions, and the aim to spread hate, replaced the word evil with husband. That’s okay, we are used to your black paint!” Bushiri has reiterated the fact that the message of his livestream was to encourage people to donate to charity, not disobey the orders of their husbands.
See the full statement below.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-q6DKaDvlr/
Sayushka Naidoo
s.naidoo@politicalanalysis.co.za