On Tuesday, January 16 reports and the rumour-mill alleged that the controversial Malawian preacher, Prophet Shepherd Bushiri was arrested on Friday, 12 January at the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York on “suspicion of drug trafficking.”

The rumour seems to have come from what appears to be a fake news website, realusa.site. The site claims that the news originated from fox-news24.com, a known fake news website. There are no credible news reports indicating that Bushiri has been arrested, and nor has there been any such information from US authorities about the arrest of Bushiri at JFK Airport. As such, the report, and therefore the rumours are false.

Bushiri, and his controversial Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG), which operates in many Southern African countries, is considered controversial due to Bushiri’s outlandish claims of miracles, his opulent lifestyle, and his run-ins with religious regulatory bodies. In Botswana, he has been the subject of a cease and desist order by the government of Botswana – his Enlightened Christian Gathering church was told to cease from operating in the country. And in South Africa, where he is based, a university run by his church in Pretoria is the subject of a current investigation by the South African Department of Higher Education. The university is unregistered and unaccredited, but is allegedly running short courses.