High Court Orders Walter Magaya To Pay US$3m Debt, Shoots Down “Unjust Enrichment” Scheme & Slaps Prophet With Costs
The High Court of Zimbabwe has ordered controversial Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries (PHD) leader Walter Magaya to repay a staggering US$3 million (approximately R54 million) to an Israeli business partner. In a fiercely worded judgment, Justice Maxwell Takuva not only dismissed Magaya’s attempt to use exchange control laws as a shield but also denounced his conduct as standing in “stark and troubling contrast” to the scriptures he preaches, awarding costs against the prophet on a higher scale.
The judgment arises from a Memorandum of Agreement dated 12 May 2022, under which Magaya received US$3 million from Israeli businessman Ronny Aharon Musan Levi for a mining project. The agreement stipulated that Magaya would register a first-ranking mortgage over his Yadah Hotel Properties within 30 days as security. However, court papers revealed that Magaya neither registered the bond nor repaid a single cent.
A “Shield Of Fraud” Dismantled
Magaya, through his lawyer Advocate Garikai Sithole, argued that the deal was void from the start, citing sections 4 and 11 of Zimbabwe’s Exchange Control Regulations. He claimed that because the transaction lacked Reserve Bank approval, it was illegal and unenforceable, going so far as to suggest he could repay the debt in the depreciating local currency rather than US dollars.
Justice Maxwell Takuva, however, delivered a scathing rebuke of this defence. The court ruled that exchange control regulations apply to Zimbabwean residents, not foreign nationals like Levi, who brought capital into the country.
“The defendant had an obligation to seek authority for a future payment. Surely, the defendant cannot now use his potential or actual breach as a shield to invalidate the entire agreement,”
Justice Takuva stated in his ruling.
The Judge emphasised that allowing Magaya to benefit from the full sum and then hide behind technicalities would turn the law into “an engine of fraud.” Advocate Tazorora Musarurwa, representing Levi from Chinawa Law Chambers, had passionately argued that accepting Magaya’s defence would set a dangerous precedent.
“If the defendant is successful, he will be unjustly enriched to the tune of US$3 million (R54 million). This is contrary to public policy,”
Justice Takuva ruled, cementing the principle that the law will not allow someone to profit from their own deceit.
A Divine Contradiction
In a portion of the judgment that has reverberated from the pulpits to the pavements, Justice Takuva directly addressed the hypocrisy of Magaya’s position as a man of God.
“The defendant’s conduct in this matter stands in stark and troubling contrast to the very scriptures he professes to hold as a man of God, pastor, and leader of a Christian Ministry,” the Judge remarked pointedly.
This comparison between Magaya’s legal tactics and his spiritual calling has added a layer of moral condemnation to the financial penalty. The court found that Magaya had prescribed the method of payment and directly benefited from the transaction, and could not later challenge the arrangement that put the money in his pocket.
The Cost Of Justice
The ruling clears the way for the immediate enforcement of the US$3 million claim. The court ordered that the debt attracts interest at a rate of 3 percent per month, compounded monthly, from 1 July 2022, until the full amount is settled. Furthermore, the order includes provisions to make Magaya’s immovable property executable to satisfy the debt if he fails to pay. The awarding of costs on a higher scale underscores the court’s disapproval of what it saw as an abuse of process by the PHD leader.
This financial catastrophe is the latest in a series of legal nightmares for Magaya. He is currently facing four counts of rape involving adult congregants from Harare and Chegutu, with allegations spanning from 2016 to 2023, charges he vehemently denies. Just this week, in a dramatic twist to that trial, Magaya’s lawyers requested the recusal of prosecutor Tendayi Shonhayi, alleging she is a member of rival preacher Emmanuel Makandiwa’s United Family International Church and is on a mission to “destroy him and his church.”
As the prophet of PHD Ministries grapples with a court-ordered debt that could strip him of his hotel assets and a rape trial that threatens his liberty, the judgment serves as a stark reminder that, in the eyes of the law, no man—prophet or otherwise—stands above its reach.