PROPHET WALTER MAGAYA finds his prized developments — the luxurious hotel and a FIFA-rated stadium — at the heart of a fierce legal and financial storm.
Once symbols of Prophetic Healing and Deliverance (PHD) Ministries’ growing footprint, these properties are now under the hammer, as two creditors move in for the kill.
Twin creditors, one complex: A tug of war begins
Two creditors — GetBucks Microfinance Bank Limited and Chinese investor Li Xiu Yun — with separate court orders are both targeting Magaya’s real estate crown jewels located on adjoining stands along Smuts Road in Prospect, Waterfalls.
In a twist worthy of a legal thriller, both parties are staking claims on the same properties —
Stand 166 and Stand 168 — which appear to overlap in function and description, casting doubt over the clarity of land boundaries.
Both reportedly host a hotel, a stadium and multiple lodges, raising the spectre of a “double encumbrance”.
GetBucks strikes first: US$420 000 debt chase under Sale Number: SH3298/25
GetBucks Microfinance Bank is demanding repayment of US$420 140 from Planet Africa (Private) Limited, Walter Magaya, Tendai Magaya and Prophetic Deliverance Ministries.
In its legal offensive, the bank has targeted Stand 166, a sprawling 3.2323-hectare property described as home to a hotel, a FIFA-ranked stadium and multiple clusters/lodges, all heavily secured.
The bank already secured a High Court judgment for repayment by June 2025.
However, recovery has been anything but smooth.
According to court filings, just days before a scheduled auction, Magaya’s camp purportedly placed the principal debtor under Corporate Rescue, a move that stalled the sale.
GetBucks accuses the respondents of intentional obstruction.
The bank alleges they abused legal procedures to render the court’s judgment a pyrrhic victory, a “brutum fulmen”, by creating legal diversions and shielding assets through associated entities.
The implication is clear: GetBucks believes the parties are insolvent and their estates should be liquidated.
Li Xiu Yun enters the arena: Another claim, another stand under Sale Number: SH3294/25
Chinese businessman Li Xiu Yun, also owed a significant sum, secured a separate writ of execution against PHD Ministries, this time targeting Stand 168, a 3.8428-hectare parcel just next to GetBucks’ claim.
This stand, too, boasts a modern hotel (which appears to be of four-star quality), cluster lodges and a stadium eerily similar to the features listed in the Stand 166 writ.
Although access to the property was reportedly denied during inspection, the visible structures reinforce suspicions that Magaya’s mega-complex spills over both stands, now subject to competing writs.
The overlap not only risks duplication of claims but also sets the stage for an unusually complex property auction.
One development, two auctions?
With two separate High Court writs referencing nearly identical assets, the Sheriff of the High Court now faces a daunting logistical and legal challenge: how to execute both sales without violating property rights or triggering further litigation.
The prospect of double claims over the same hotel and stadium could lead to protracted legal battles, title disputes and delays in asset recovery frustrating both creditors and potentially diminishing the value of the properties.
A landmark legacy at risk
With the hotel and stadium caught in the crosshairs of two heavyweight creditors, the next chapter in this saga may be fought not in church, but in the corridors of the High Court.
As the auctions loom, legal clarity, asset transparency and inter-creditor coordination will be critical in untangling this high-stakes property puzzle and determining the fate of one of Zimbabwe’s most iconic developments by a religious entity. – Herald
