What was Magaya up to?

Prophetic Healing and Deliverance leader Walter Magaya last Sunday claimed that he had found a cure for HIV Aids and cancer. It was called Aguma.

He had kept this secret for two years because he wanted it to be chemically and scientifically proven.

“Prophetically I discovered the plant,” he told his audience which included an assortment of “journalists” from across Africa.

“The world may deny but they will eventually agree. You can never fight with facts and win,” he said.

“I have tested it fully on human beings and a lot of these human beings have gone negative. If you take Aguma, in 14 days we carry the first test, your CD count must improve by 200 percent.”

Magaya said Aguma was 100 percent organic and did not have any side effects.

He said he had the intellectual rights to the plant and had patented it so no one could steal it from him.

He was not however going to divulge the name of the plant. Ibn fact an American company had offered him $56 million to tell them the name of the plant but he had refused.

“AIDS,” he said, “was an African problem, so people had been waiting for an African solution.”

A day after his announcement Magaya was under fire from doctors and from the government and he apologized for his excitement in rushing to announce “the cure”.

But when he was arrested and police searched his premises, reports said police allegedly recovered unregistered prescription preparatory medicines, drug manufacturing, packaging machines and drug manufacturing raw materials and 20 bags containing empty capsules, plastic containers and plastic container lids.

When he appeared in court, the State said Magaya allegedly destroyed some of the exhibits by flushing them down his office toilets and burning some of the containers which were, however, recovered half burnt. Several Aguma sachets and torn sachets were also recovered in an office bin next to the church’s call centre office.

One wonders what had gone wrong considering the confidence Magaya had when he addressed the media and his audience!

Why did he destroy evidence when he had said anyone was free to test his “cure”?

Was it really a “cure”? If so why did Magaya not capitalise on proving its efficacy as he had said.

If it was not, what con was the Man of God trying to play?

Magaya was remanded to 29 November on $300 bail.