By Brandon Josphat
THE Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC) has resumed its probe of allegations of sexual abuse levelled against prominent Prophetic Healing and Deliverance (PHD) Ministries leader, Walter Magaya.
This comes after both the High and Supreme courts gave the commission the green light to continue with its investigation into the allegations.
ZGC announced on Thursday that following the courts’ rulings, it had now recommenced the investigation into allegations levelled against the preacher.
“The Zimbabwe Gender Commission wishes to advise members of the public that the Zimbabwe Gender Commission in its commission meeting … on the 4th of August 2022 resolved to recommence the investigation of the allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse of women levelled against Magaya of PHD Ministries. The investigation, which was gazetted on the 23rd of August 2019 … was halted by the legal challenge launched by the key respondent … Magaya.
“We are happy that the courts have given legal judgments (SC592/19, HC 7347/19 and HH688/19) which have paved the way for the continuance of our processes,” the commission said. “As such, we are calling on all citizens who might have complaints of sexual exploitation and abuse involving the conduct of Magaya to present particulars of their complaints to the Zimbabwe Gender Commission.
“The invitation is also being extended to all the complainants and witnesses to such acts which consist of Sea of Women within the denomination,” it added.
This comes after the Supreme Court dismissed with costs an appeal by Magaya, which sought to nullify a 2019 High Court ruling that authorised the ZGC to investigate allegations of sexual abuse against him. In delivering her judgment then, Supreme Court judge, Justice Anne-Marie Gowora, ruled that the High Court’s decision be upheld — as barring the ZGC from conducting the investigations would be a violation of the law.
“The premise of the interdict was that the intended investigation was illegal from several bases, the first being the want of jurisdiction to conduct an investigation and the alleged illegal exercise of that jurisdiction by the commission. “It was the intention of the appellant to subject the decision to issue the notice to a review process.
“It is pertinent to point out that for every law that is gazetted, there is a presumption of validity and appropriate legal mechanisms have been put in place in terms of the law where one intends to challenge the validity of a legal instrument,” Justice Gowora ruled.
“Until it has been set aside, the general notice has the force of law and anything done under it is presumed to be lawful and valid. “An application for an interdict is not and cannot by any stretch of the imagination be considered as one of those mechanisms.
“In the premises, the appeal is devoid of merit and is dismissed with costs,” she added. Magaya had initially approached the High Court in September 2019, challenging the ZGC’s decision to issue General Notice 1444 which instructed its officers to conduct an investigation into complaints of sexual abuse that had been made against him.
In that application, the PHD leader demanded a review of the ZGC’s decision and argued that the investigation constituted an illegality, as neither the country’s Constitution nor the Act afforded the commission the authority to conduct the contemplated investigation.
This saw the ZGC opposing the application, arguing that it had investigative functions in terms of the Constitution and it’s enabling Act. ZGC also told the court then, that it had received numerous complaints of alleged sexual abuse against the preacher, which necessitated the issuance of the notice to facilitate the investigations.
The High Court subsequently dismissed Magaya’s application, ruling that the commission — under Section 7 of the Act — had the power to conduct such an investigation and make a report to Parliament on its findings. Unsatisfied with the outcome at the High Court, it was then that Magaya proceeded to file an appeal at the Supreme Court.
Magaya had grabbed media headlines in July 2019 after an actress accused him of having raped her. However, the actress made a surprising U-turn after a few days, this time saying the preacher had never harmed her.
She went on to apologise, saying the allegations that she had made were false — further claiming that she had been used by demons to “distract the work God was doing” through Magaya. Besides this case, the self-styled prophet had also faced several accusations of sexual abuse — including a claim that he impregnated a 17-year-old girl. However, many of the accusations failed to stick after the alleged victims withdrew their claims.