Prophet Shepherd Bushiri of Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) Church has blasted social media reports claiming that he is on the verge of joining frontline politics.

The development comes barely a day after he was spotted attending Cyclone Freddy memorial service in Mulanje attended by President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera.

In a statement Bushiri through his spokesperson Aubrey Kusakala said he is not planning to contest as President in the forthcoming polls as alleged on the social media.

“We are deeply concerned with the escalation of impulsive social media postings that are creating an impression as if Prophet Shepherd Bushiri is positioning himself as a presidential candidate in next year’s polls.

“We want to underline and emphasize, here, that Prophet Bushiri, as he has always said, neither holds an intention nor an interest to join frontline politics,” reads part of the statement.

Kusakala added: “Besides being a compassionate philanthropist, he is a religious leader whose unwavering philosophy centers on supporting the government of the day and he will always do so because he believes that every citizen has a role to play in complementing government’s efforts of goodwill towards its people.

“Postings in circulation connecting or luring him to frontline politics should be seriously discarded, utterly rejected and unconditionally condemned as they misrepresent and discourage Prophet Bushiri.

“To those escalating such postings, we urge you to channel your energy in encouraging him to soldier on with his ministry and philanthropy works.”