The Supreme Court has rejected the appeal filed by the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) challenging the High Court’s decision to reinstate Wicknel Chivayo’s contentious Gwanda solar project. This concludes a protracted legal dispute that has persisted since 2015.

Justices Joseph Musakwa and George Chiweshe delivered a succinct judgment, additionally imposing costs on ZPC. Musakwa stated, “The appeal is dismissed. The appellant is required to cover the costs of the suit,” and indicated that a comprehensive judgment would be released later.

ZPC, in its appeal, contended that Chivayo failed to fulfill the contract, asserting that the High Court’s ruling on the contract’s validity was erroneous. Daniel Tivadar, ZPC’s lawyer, asserted that the project should have been completed by 2019.

Chivayo’s legal representative, Advocate Lewis Uriri, maintained that the evidence presented by his client in the lower court went uncontested.

Chivayo, through his company Intratrek Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd, had sued ZPC for $22 million for defamation, stemming from ZPC’s role in his arrest. He also sought $3 million in compensation for expenses incurred between 2013 and 2018 in funding the project.

Earlier this year, High Court Judge Siyabona Musithu upheld Chivayo’s application, levying higher-scale costs on ZPC. Chivayo argued that ZPC had damaged his reputation by arresting him on fraud charges related to the project.

Despite ZPC’s appeal to the Supreme Court, challenging the lower court’s ruling, the agreement between ZPC and Intratrek, signed after a successful tender bid, stands. Intratrek secured the contract for the engineering, procurement, and construction of the 1,000MW Gwanda Solar Power Station Project as the lowest compliant bidder at $173 million.

Efforts by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to revive the case failed, with Chivayo and his company being found not guilty and acquitted.

In other news – 16-year-old boy kills man over girlfriend

A 16-year-old boy has been arrested on allegations of fatally stabbing a man following a misunderstanding over a girlfriend at a house in Ruwa on Monday, while a 63-year-old woman was arrested for killing her husband in Gokwe after a domestic dispute.

The teenager stabbed Theionvus Mhungira (19) once on the neck with a kitchen knife and he died on the spot, national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said. The stabbing occurred at a house in Solomio Park, Ruwa on Monday. Read More