Congregants defrauded in the long-stalled housing project may join the fraud docket while the PHD leader fights rape and fraud charges from remand

The arrest of Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries founder Walter Magaya has opened the floodgates for fresh allegations from long-suffering congregants who say they were left stranded after investing in his housing and business ventures.

Among them is Harare SME entrepreneur Tinashe Chakadza, a committed follower who in 2016 entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Magaya’s company, Planet Africa (Pvt) Ltd, to buy a residential stand under the prophet’s widely promoted “Giving You Houses” programme.
He paid US $1 200 — a US $150 deposit followed by monthly instalments — and waited faithfully for his promised stand. 
In 2024, one family sued Magaya’s company for US $4 100 after failing to receive a promised stand; the case was later settled out of court. Earlier this year, new allegations surfaced accusing him of defrauding congregants in the same 2016 housing scheme, confirming a pattern that may now form part of the broader criminal investigation.

While they were aware of these legal challenges, Chakadza says together with other “partners”, he was certain that their spiritual leader would not let him down. Even when repeated visits to the company’s and church’s offices produced only assurances to “be patient.”

“I believed he would deliver,” Chakadza told Zim Now. “I was one of those who had faith that the Prophet’s word was his bond. But now I see that faith alone won’t get me my money or my stand.”

Documents seen by Zim Now confirm that Planet Africa undertook to sell stands to PHD partners in Harare, Chitungwiza, Norton, Bulawayo, Mutare, Kwekwe, and Gweru — land it claimed to have obtained for subdivision and development.
Clause 10 of the MOU promised purchasers an 80 percent refund if the land was not subdivided within 20 months.

Several other congregants who do not wish to be named showed Zim Now similar paperwork to Chakadza’s with amounts going up to US$3700 and indicated that they are weighing whether to file police reports, a development that could expand Magaya’s legal exposure.

Magaya’s defence lawyer, Admire Rubaya’s firm Chibaya and Chatambudza, is named as the legal counsel entitled to a $500 processing fee in the contracts.

In addition to the fees, the paperwork also specifies that people like Chakadza had to remain “partners” for the duration of the contract, meaning that they had to pay their monthly fees or risk losing out on their investments.

Magaya was arrested in Harare last Saturday 2025 on multiple charges of rape and fraud following investigations by a specialist ZRP task team. He appeared in court on Monday was remanded in custody to 13 November.

The Planet Africa housing venture is not Magaya’s first disputed project. He is haunted by failed mining investments, unpaid debts, and tax arrears challenges and faking academic credentials.
For many followers, however, the deepest wound is spiritual: they trusted a man they regarded as divinely anointed.

“We believed we were sowing into the Kingdom,” said one congregant who has yet to lodge a complaint. “Now it feels like we were sowing into a scam.”

A lawyer who refused to be named for professional reasons says that if many people in the same boat as Chakadza also decide to file complaints over the same case, there is a chance that all the reports will be compounded into a class action for civil and criminal proceedings.