Online Reporter
Fidelis Munyoro-Chief Court Reporter
PROPHETIC Healing and Deliverance Ministries leader, Walter Magaya, has failed in his attempt to stop a US$3 million civil claim brought against him by Israeli businessman, Ronny Aharon Musan Levi, after the High Court dismissed his argument that the underlying agreement was illegal.
In a strongly worded ruling delivered on Wednesday, Justice Maxwell Takuva rejected Magaya’s reliance on Exchange Control Regulations to invalidate the deal, describing the defence as both legally and factually untenable.
The dispute arises from a Memorandum of Agreement and promissory note signed on May 12, 2022, under which Magaya received US$3 million from Levi for a mining project.
Under the terms of the agreement, Magaya was required to register a first-ranking mortgage over Yadah Hotel Properties within 30 days as security for the loan.
According to court papers, he neither registered the mortgage bond nor repaid the funds, prompting Levi — represented by Advocate Tazorora Musarurwa of Chinawa Law Chambers — to sue for recovery of the money.
Magaya, through his lawyer Advocate Garikai Sithole, instructed by Rubaya and Chatambudza Legal Practitioners, argued that the agreement was void from the outset because it allegedly contravened Zimbabwe’s Exchange Control Regulations, which require Reserve Bank approval for certain external payments.
However, Justice Takuva ruled that the regulations apply to Zimbabwean residents and not to foreign nationals such as Levi.
He stressed that it was Magaya’s obligation, as the local party to the agreement, to seek any necessary authority for future payments.
“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,” the judge said.
In a pointed rebuke, Justice Takuva remarked: “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 court further held that allowing Magaya to rely on the regulations after soliciting and receiving the full benefit of the funds would amount to using the law as “an engine of fraud” — a stance incompatible with public policy.
If Magaya’s argument were upheld, Justice Takuva said, he would be unjustly enriched by US$3 million at Levi’s expense.
“If the defendant is successful, he will be unjustly enriched to the tune of US$3 million. This is contrary to public policy,” Justice Takuva ruled.
Costs were awarded against Magaya on a higher scale, underscoring the court’s disapproval of his conduct.
