High Court Halts Magaya’s Rape Trial – Eduzim News

By A Correspondent | The High Court of Zimbabwe has temporarily halted part of the ongoing rape trial involving Walter Magaya after granting an urgent application to stay proceedings concerning four witnesses.

According to court documents filed at the High Court in Harare, Magaya approached the court seeking an urgent review of a decision by the magistrates’ court to conduct part of the trial using a victim-friendly procedure for certain witnesses.

Magaya’s lawyers argued that the decision by magistrate Estere Chivasa to allow the four witnesses to testify through intermediaries was irregular and violated legal procedures. They claimed the ruling was made without sufficient evidence that the witnesses qualified as “vulnerable witnesses,” which is normally required for testimony to be taken in a victim-friendly court setting.

In the urgent chamber application, Magaya’s legal team also contended that proceeding with the trial before the review application is determined would undermine his constitutional right to a fair trial.

A certificate of urgency filed by lawyer Dave Simbi argued that if the trial continued as scheduled, the review application would become meaningless because the contested testimony would already have been heard.

The High Court granted interim relief ordering that the criminal trial proceedings relating to the four witnesses be stayed with immediate effect. This means the witnesses will not testify until the court decides whether the magistrate’s earlier ruling should stand.

The criminal case is being handled at the Harare Regional Magistrates Court under case number CRB HRE R 139/26, while the review application has been filed in the High Court under case number HCH 953/26.

Magaya, a prominent religious leader and founder of Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries, is facing rape allegations. The High Court’s decision does not dismiss the charges but temporarily pauses the specific aspect of the proceedings involving the four witnesses.

The matter will return to court when the High Court determines whether the magistrate’s decision regarding the use of the victim-friendly court procedure should be upheld or set aside.

More details are expected as the review process unfolds.

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