Browsing: COURTS

Ruthlessly enjoying 5 strong rounds of rape with 2 women gets prophet Magaya in jail Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries founder Walter Magaya will remain behind bars after Harare magistrate Marewanazvo Gofa dismissed his application for immediate release. He had filed his application together with his wife Tendai and employee Tendai Chinguwa. The trio had argued they were unlawfully brought before the court after being detained beyond the 48-hour limit stipulated under Section 50 of the Constitution. Gofa, however, ruled that while the three were indeed overdetained, the violation did not warrant their release. “All applicants were overdetained but such overdetention has no effect on their release. Accordingly, all accused have appeared before the courts… they have remedies before other courts as alluded to by the state. Accordingly, application for immediate release of the accused due to overdetention is hereby dismissed,” she ruled. The magistrate said the trio could seek redress in the Constitutional Court, adding that the court was guided by the 2015 Mloyi and Madondo case. “In practice courts are guided by most recent case laws,” she said, siding with the State’s position that the accused’s remedy lay elsewhere. Gofa further ruled that no bail application would be entertained in relation to the rape case Magaya is facing. He was remanded in custody to November 13. His lawyer, Admire Rubaya, said they would not seek bail for the separate fraud case at the magistrates’ court but would approach the High Court instead. Meanwhile, the defence team is now pursuing a bail application for Magaya’s wife, Tendai. Prophetic Healing and Deliverance (PHD) Ministries founder Walter Magaya appeared in court on Monday facing five counts of rape allegedly committed against two women who were members of his church — with some of the incidents said to have occurred more than a decade ago. Magaya, 42, was arrested early Saturday and arrived at the Harare Magistrates Court in handcuffs, wearing a blue suit and flanked by police detectives and lawyers. He was shackled to his bodyguard, Tapiwa Chikondo, who faces separate charges of assaulting police officers in an alleged bid to block Magaya’s arrest. Before the rape matter was heard, prosecutors brought fraud charges against Magaya and his wife, Tendai, linked to a multi-million-dollar church housing project that allegedly never materialised. The couple’s lawyers argued that they had been detained beyond the constitutional 48-hour limit and asked the court to order their release. Magistrate Marewanazvo Gofa reserved ruling to Tuesday. After that hearing, the courtroom was cleared of journalists and the public when prosecutors requested that the rape proceedings be held in camera to protect the identities of the two complainants. ZimLive understands both women were not present for the hearing and are currently outside the country, according to legal sources. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) alleges that the offences occurred between 2013 and 2018 in both Harare and Johannesburg, arising from what investigators describe as Magaya’s “abuse of pastoral authority and influence.” Magaya denies all the charges. Prosecutors say the first complainant met Magaya after her family joined PHD Ministries in 2013. During a church service at Rayton Sports Club, Magaya is alleged to have prayed for her ailing father and promised to assist the family with school fees. He later invited the complainant — then a teenager — to assist his wife with household duties at their Waterfalls home, purportedly while he arranged sponsorship for her education. The NPA alleges the first rape occurred in March 2013, after Magaya summoned the young woman to a meeting in central Harare and directed her to a hotel. “The complainant informed accused that she had arrived and was told to get a key at the reception and go to room which she cannot remember whether it was 302 or 320. On arrival at the room, complainant opened the door and was surprised to find the accused lying on the bed reading a book naked,” the NPA charges. The woman told police she was “shocked and confused” and sat on a couch before Magaya allegedly pulled her to the bed and raped her. Two further incidents are said to have taken place at Magaya’s Waterfalls residence, where the complainant was living at the time. The alleged assaults, the state contends, occurred while Magaya’s wife was away. About two months after the first incident, during the night, Magaya allegedly called the complainant to come upstairs to the lounge next to his bedroom. The NPA says she went there and “found him on the couch without an underwear.” He allegedly raped her a second time after making her bend on the couch. In September the same year, while still living at the Magaya home, the prosecution says Magaya’s wife had left home when he called the complainant to his bedroom and told her to sit on the bed. “He told complainant how much he missed having sex with her, telling her that he wanted to take her as his second wife and promised to buy her a house and the complainant did not comment on that,” alleged the NPA. He later raped her a third time, it is alleged. The complainant is said to have eventually left the property but did not report to the police “fearing the spiritual powers held by the accused.” In 2016, she met her current husband in whom she confided about the alleged sexual assaults and her parents were informed. The NPA says when they went to report at Harare Central Police Station, they were met by “police officers who were security personnel at the PHD Ministries” who declined to open a case. After leaving the police station, the complainant and her parents were called by the same police officers who allegedly told them Magaya wanted to “discuss with the family out of court.” The NPA says sometime in 2019 the alleged victim’s parents had been interviewed on video which was going to be posted online and Magaya called for a meeting between the complainant and her parents “where a lot of issues were discussed.” Magaya allegedly demanded that the parents should record a video rejecting the allegations as a way of clearing his name. “The accused took advantage of the complainant who was below the age of majority… and he continued making empty promises hoping that the offence will die a natural death,” the NPA charges. The second complainant, 32, was also a member of PHD Ministries. Prosecutors say she and her mother went into business with Magaya in August 2018, partnering him in the production of herbal supplements. The complainant, who served as an adviser in the project, was reportedly chosen to accompany Magaya on a business trip to South Africa to buy machinery and raw materials. While in Johannesburg, the complainant says Magaya booked her into the Palazzo Hotel and later invited her to his room for a meeting. Magaya allegedly ordered her to remove her clothes and have sex with him but she refused. She told police she tried to run away but when she reached the door “she discovered that three of the accused’s bodyguards were manning the door. She returned and sat next to the accused.” Magaya allegedly threatened to “curse her” if she refused his advances and forced himself on her. The following day, she was allegedly given a Samsung S9 mobile phone “in a bid to buy her silence.” After returning to Zimbabwe, the complainant allegedly told her mother she had been raped and they proceeded to Waterfalls Police Station to make a report “but they were turned away.” Magaya allegedly called her the following day and told her that he was aware she was trying to report him to the police. In October the same year, and two months after the alleged rape, the state says Magaya summoned the same complainant, her mother and brother to his Marlborough offices for a business meeting. After dismissing the others, Magaya allegedly locked the woman in his office and raped her again, warning her not to report him. Prosecutors say the complainant tried several times to lodge a police report at Waterfalls and Harare Central Police Stations, but her complaints were not recorded because of Magaya’s “influence and status.” She eventually turned to the Zimbabwe Gender Commission on March 7, 2025, triggering the criminal investigation that led to Magaya’s arrest.

Political News

Harare – Mr Walter Magaya, the founder of Prophetic Healing and Deliverance (PHD) Ministries, has been remanded in custody and…