https://www.zimbabwesituation....old-lease-agreement/


Court annuls unsanctioned 25-year-old lease agreement

March 27, 2025 5:21 AM
Source: The Herald – Breaking news.

Court annuls unsanctioned 25-year-old lease agreement
Fidelis Munyoro and Zvamaida Murwira

THE eight-year-old lease of Chewore North Safari Area given to safari operator Suscade Investments by the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority has been nullified by the High Court after it emerged that it was not sanctioned by the responsible Minister as required by the law.

Justice Tawanda Chitapi last week handed down the judgment declaring the agreement hammered out in 2017 a nullity from the beginning.

The lease was also for a few months more than the maximum 25 years, and that was a secondary ground for annulment.

The ruling stemed from a failure to meet the statutory requirement of the Ministerial concurrence necessary for the lease’s validity under the Parks and Wildlife Management Act.

The applicants, ZimParks and the Minister of Environment, Climate Change, Tourism, and Hospitality (the ministry title at that point), sought relief against Suscaden Investments (Pvt) Ltd, the first respondent, and Big Five Safaris (Pvt) Ltd, the second respondent.

The contested lease agreement, signed on September 8, 2017, purported to grant Suscaden Investments a 300km area within the Chewore North Safari Area, with additional land from January 2022.

Central to the ZimParks case was the absence of the Minister’s signature on the lease agreement, a statutory condition precedent for its validity.

The Minister at the time, Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, denied ever signing the agreement.

Justice Chitapi stated: “The law is settled that where a statute prescribes the manner or form of execution of an agreement, failure to adhere to such formalities renders the agreement invalid.”

He also noted that the contested lease violated the statutory maximum duration of 25 years by exceeding it by three and a half months, further invalidating the agreement.

Suscaden Investments opposed the application, maintaining that the agreement bore the Minister’s signature.

However, inconsistencies emerged.

Evidence presented included three versions of the agreement, all differing in key details such as dates, signatures, and endorsements.

One agreement, relied on by Suscaden, purported to contain the Minister’s signature, but the court noted discrepancies in the signature patterns and dates of execution. The Suscaden Investments’ witness, a former ZimParks deputy director general admitted during cross-examination that he neither witnessed the Minister signing the agreement nor could confirm its authenticity.

Justice Chitapi highlighted that any agreement under the Parks and Wildlife Management Act requires Ministerial concurrence to be valid.

Without the Minister’s signature, the agreement never achieved legal validity.

The judgment emphasised that Suscaden Investments’ reliance on inconsistent agreements, coupled with its failure to address discrepancies in evidence, undermined its position.

The court ruled that the applicants proved on a balance of probabilities that the Minister did not sign the lease agreement.

Justice Chitapi ruled: “In the absence of the Minister’s concurrence, the agreement never had legal validity. It was void ab initio.”

As a consequence, the court declared the lease null and void and interdicted Suscaden Investments from conducting any activities within the Chewore North Safari Area, including fishing, game viewing, or photographic safaris.

Further, the court ordered Suscaden Investments to vacate the area within 90 days. Should it fail to do so, the Sheriff is authorised to enforce the eviction.

Although ZimParks and the Ministry were granted relief, the court ordered each party to bear its own costs.

Justice Chitapi observed that ZimParks shared the responsibility for the invalid agreement.

“The first applicant’s failure to ensure compliance with statutory requirements does not entitle it to a cost award.”

Advocate Keith Kachambwa, instructed by Mhishi and Nkomo, represented ZimParks and the Ministry.

Adv Tererai Mafukidze, instructed by Coghlan, Welsh and Guest, acted on behalf of Suscaden Investments.

Meanwhile, Advocate Tafadzwa Mapuranga, instructed by Ahmed and Ziyambi, argued the case for Big 5 Safaris.