Prophet Walter Magaya has suffered a massive legal blow after the High Court firmly rejected his attempts to declare his ongoing rape trial a nullity and shot down his bid to strip Harare regional magistrate Ester Chivasa of presiding over the high-profile case.

While High Court Judge Justice Tawanda Chitapi set aside Magistrate Chivasa's earlier ruling that had allowed three rape accusers to give evidence in a Victim Friendly Court, the relief proved double-edged for the Prophetic Healing and Deliverance (PHD) Ministries leader. Rather than collapsing the prosecution or forcing a trial restart under a different magistrate as Magaya’s defense team had hoped, Justice Chitapi delivered consecutive setbacks to the cleric’s overarching legal strategy.

The High Court flatly dismissed Magaya's contention that shielding the complainants from direct contact in open court amounted to an unconstitutional "secret trial." Justice Chitapi emphasized that special protective arrangements do not violate fair trial guarantees, pointing out that Magaya retains his full rights to be present throughout the proceedings, to be represented by counsel, and to thoroughly cross-examine his accusers.

Furthermore, the judge rejected Magaya’s argument that procedural missteps by the lower court rendered the entire trial process void. Justice Chitapi made a sharp distinction between a court committing an illegal act and merely omitting required procedural steps, ruling that Magistrate Chivasa had not committed a nullity, but had simply omitted to conduct the full legal enquiry required by statute before granting protective measures.

Refusing Magaya's request to reassign the case to a different judicial officer, Justice Chitapi noted that the defense had failed to provide any legal or factual justification to warrant Magistrate Chivasa’s recusal. Consequently, the High Court remitted the matter directly back to Magistrate Chivasa's courtroom.

The legal battle stems from serious charges involving three former congregants aged 21, 22, and 24, who allege Magaya raped them at the Yadah Hotel in Waterfalls, Harare, between July 2020 and December 2023. When trial proceedings commenced in the Victim Friendly Court, state prosecutor Clemence Chimbari applied under Section 319B of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act (CPEA) to hold the trial in camera. Chimbari argued the women were highly traumatized, feared direct face-to-face contact with the accused, and faced intense emotional distress from church members following the trial.

Magaya’s defense team led by Advocate Thabani Mpofu alongside Admire Rubaya and Everson Chatambudza vigorously opposed the application, demanding that Magaya confront his accusers "eyeball to eyeball" and arguing that the state had failed to produce psychological or medical evidence to substantiate its claims. Magistrate Chivasa initially ruled in favor of the prosecution, asserting that all witnesses in rape matters are inherently vulnerable and that expert medical evidence was unnecessary.

In addressing that initial decision, Justice Chitapi noted that while the magistrate erred in declaring all rape witnesses automatically vulnerable without following the mandatory statutory checklist under Section 319C(1) of the CPEA which mandates a cumulative consideration of age, mental state, cultural background, and relationship to the accused the state remains entirely free to raise the request again.

With the case now sent back to Magistrate Chivasa to conduct a proper, structured enquiry into the witnesses' vulnerability, Magaya remains facing trial before the same magistrate he sought to remove, while the prosecution prepares to re-submit its application for witness protection under the High Court's guidelines.