Hopewell Chin'ono fambirawo nyaya idzi ma investor arege kuuya vaite vega ivo vene hanty nyika ndeyavo nema chinaKu investor muZimbabwe kupedza nguva
Terry William Kelly(pictured) has lost Chewore Lodge, as the Supreme Court has upheld the High Court ruling of invalidating a 25-year lease agreement between Suscaden Investments (Private) Limited and ZimParks
Chiwore is a well-known safari throughout the world, and many of its visitors and clients are from big international source markets.
Suscaden Investments, run by 73-year-old entrepreneur Terry Kelly (pictured), has been operating Chewore Lodge and Campsite for 15 years under two successive leases and a deed of settlement.
The lease, given by the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, was annulled by the High Court on the grounds that it was not signed by the responsible minister.
In a judgment delivered on March 21, 2025, Justice Tawanda Chitapi cited that the lack of the minister’s signature or explicit acceptance of the agreement rendered it invalid.
The long running dispute was between Suscaden against ZimParks, The Ministry of Environment and rival safari operator Big Five Safaris, it centred on whether the lease agreement complied with Section 37 of the Parks and Wildlife Management Act.
The Supreme Court judgment read by Justice Chiweshe declared that Suscaden had failed to provide clear evidence that the former Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri had approved the lease as required by the law.
The court rejected Suscaden's argument that ZIMPARKS' acceptance of rentals and treatment of the lease as valid for 5 years stopped the respondents from challenging its legality.
Minister Muchinguri was denying ever signing the lease agreement, even though the lease agreement document bore her signature. Suscaden key witness, a former ZimParks official, testified that he had received the signed lease agreement document through routine channels.
The official, under cross-examination, testified that he didn't personally witness the minister signing the document and could not challenge her denial.
The dispute around the safari project has seen Suscade Investments managing director, 73-year-old Kelly, going through torrid times.
Kelly was 2023 controversially arrested and detained in remand prison for days on allegations of stealing motion cameras left as bait for hunting in an area where such activities are forbidden.
Despite attempting to hand over the camera to ZimParks rangers at Chewore Lodge and asking them to investigate the issue, they declined to take action and also refused to accept the cameras and use it as an exhibit.
The rangers also refused to accompany Kelly to the illegal hunting site, saying, "It's Billy's, we can't go there," and the head ranger of the area known as Kanda refused to take the camera.
Kelly then handed the camera to the police in Kanyemba.
After signing his statement, the matter was referred to prosecutors at the Guruve magistrate courts, who declined to prosecute, stating it was not theft.
Several weeks later, Kelly was shocked after he was taken by police in the dead of night and transported in a boat belonging to Big Five Safaris, owned by Rautenbach, to Kanyemba.
The ride by boat ride of approximately 50km through Mapata Gorge, is extremely dangerous and forbidden.
Kelly was collected at Kanyemba by five senior officers who had driven eight hours to take him.
The 73-year-old safari operator was further shocked when the officers immediately changed course and drove through the night to Harare, where he was charged and detained.
This was despite the Guruve Prosecutors declining to prosecute him.
Kelly’s troubles were a result of a camera valued at US$50 that he had handed to the police as evidence of illegal hunting.
He was subsequently acquitted by the magistrates' courts in Harare on the basis that there was no substance to the allegations against him.
Kelly, who invested millions of dollars in Chewore, which served as a high-end tourism hub in the Zambezi valley, will certainly lose all the millions he invested as the eviction order is expected to be executed soon.
The Supreme Court ruling in the landmark case will impact on the protection of investment and property rights in Zimbabwe.
