CONTROVERSIAL South Africa-based church leader, Prophet Shepherd Bushiri has sensationally claimed that former deputy finance minister, Terrence Mukupe has a mental problem and should urgently seek help.
Bushiri, a Malawian citizen, made the claim in a TV programme this week, where he was responding to allegations that he impregnated Mukupe’s wife, Rachel J.
Last month, Mukupe, a Zanu PF politician and former MP for Harare East, posted on his Twitter account, social media platform WhatsApp chats, claiming they were conversations between Bushiri and Rachel J, who is also a musician.
The purported chats between the prophet and Rachel J revealed how the two were involved in a sexual relationship, which led to her pregnancy.
However, Rachel J’s family dismissed the chats and said Mukupe was never married to the musician and that Bushiri was not responsible for her pregnancy.
This week, Bushiri also dismissed the same allegations and went on to describe Mukupe as a mentally challenged person.
“Mr. Terrence Mukupe, I think has a mental problem. Trust me. A normal person cannot fabricate chats of another person if you have normal five senses. I think he has a mental problem. I think he must be checked by a medical practitioner,” Bushiri said.
The young preacher said he had engaged his lawyers and they were working on carrying out DNA tests to prove that he was not the father of the child.
“Mr. Mukupe accuses me of impregnating his wife. He claims that I went to Malawi and impregnated his wife last year in February. His wife I think will give birth or has already given birth I don’t know. But that pregnancy couldn’t be for two or three years because I last went to Malawi in 2018. So the whole of 2019 I wasn’t in Malawi.
“So it is completely impossible. He is not only accusing me but some other people that they impregnated the same wife for reasons known by himself.”
Bushiri also dismissed claims made by Mukupe that Rachel J gave R200 000 and that he used to chat with the woman on WhatsApp as he was not on the social media platform and the mobile number appearing on the chats was not his.
“I don’t know Mukupe’s wife. For his own information, I am not on WhatsApp. For three years I am not on WhatsApp. I use Telegram. It is not just nonsense, this is foolishness,” he said.
Bushiri said he suspected that Mukupe had raised the allegations because he (Bushiri) had some business interests in Zimbabwe and the former deputy minister had at some point shown interest in taking over the business, but the prophet blocked him.
The flamboyant preacher said he would not seek any damages from Mukupe because the ex-minister was a poor man and only wanted him to apologise for tarnishing his name.
“I am not seeking any damages from him. He is a very, very poor guy. He can’t pay me, I can’t seek damages from such kind of a person. I am looking for him to apologise to me and for ruining my name and this a warning to all such people,” he said. – Newzim
