Prophet Magaya adultery scandal, Mutashu speaks out

Denford Mutashu, the Harare man at the centre of an alleged adulterous affair between his wife and Prophetic Healing Deliverance (PHD) Ministries front-man Walter Magaya, on Thursday night denied apologising to the prophet after withdrawing the case from the High Court.

Mutashu opened up to The Zimbabwe Mail and rubbished reports that he made a public apology when he appeared before a PHD Ministries church service on Wednesday night.

"I did not make a public apology, neither did I make any confession. What I did was to clarify the issue that I had not been given money by anyone at anytime as had been reported by The Zimbabwe Mail," Mutashu said.

"I met Prophet Magaya in the afternoon and we agreed that I should go to the church later in the day to clarify the issue of money in front of the congregation because it had opened the church to vultures."

Magaya was embroiled in a nasty and damaging catfight amid accusations that the PHD Ministries cleric had had an illicit affair with Mutashu's wife, Nomsa Ruvazhe.

Mutashu   approached the High Court seeking $500 000 settlement for the pain and suffering as well as public humiliation caused by Magaya. As the matter played out with Magaya denying the adultery case, Mutashu, through his lawyers, last Friday withdrew the case from the High Court, with sources close to him saying he had settled out of court with the popular clergy.

Quizzed to categorically state whether there was an out of court settlement, Mutashu could neither deny nor confirm.

"I will not comment on that. I withdrew the case for personal reasons and after God's intervention following my visit to TB Joshua (Temitope Balogun) in Nigeria and my deliverance. I am not giving reasons as to why I went to Nigeria, but I went there at his (TB Joshua)'s invitation," Mutashu said last night.

TB Joshua, the Nigerian televangelist, is Magaya's spiritual father.

Mutashu also said Magaya had called TB Joshua moments before he appeared before the church on Wednesday night.

"When I arrived at the PHD Ministries in the evening, I met Magaya outside the church and he called TB Joshua before I clarified issues," he said.

However, sources close to Mutashu and the legal firm that represents him insisted there was indeed an out of court settlement between Magaya and the complainant.

"An out of court settlement was agreed between Magaya and Mutashu," said one of the sources. "This appearance in church was pre-planned and that is the reason why things have turned out they way they are. They met yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon where Mutashu and Magaya agreed on what Mutashu would tell the congregants and in front of journalists."

A coterie of selected journalists, according to the sources, was then invited to the church to record the "confession" by a Pastor Max.

Mutashu's lawyer, Norman Mugiya, last night also insisted his client never confessed or apologised to Magaya at Wednesday's church service.

"I have consulted with my client on the purported confession made at Magaya's church. He is blatantly denying ever making a confession either to the media or to the prophet," said Mugiya.

Mugiya told The Zimbabwe Mail he had never spoken to H-Metro, which claimed on Thursday that he had denied that Mutashu and Magaya had settled out of court.

"I never talked to them and did not say anything. I have not even read the story that you are talking about because it is not true," said Mugiya.

Magaya's lawyer Everson Chatambudza last night insisted there was never an "out of court settlement".

"There was nothing like an out of court settlement," said Chatambudza before the line cut-off. Efforts to get hold of Chatambudza later proved fruitless.