The Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) has clarified that it will not be paying Wicknell Chivhayo US$22 million following a Supreme Court Judgement.
In 2015, ZPC granted Intratrek a contract to build a 100MW solar plant in Gwanda. In 2018, ZPC cancelled the agreement, citing that Wicknell Chivhayo’s company had failed to meet prescribed conditions in the contract.
Wicknell filed a US$22 million lawsuit against ZPC for defamation after ZPC caused his arrest. In January 2023, the High Court ruled that the contract between ZPC and Intratrek was still valid. The power company appealed the decision, and today, the Supreme Court threw the appeal out with costs.
Social media has been awash with reports that ZPC will pay Wicknell Chivhayo US$22 million. The company released a statement on social media, revealing that it is not paying Chivhayo and Intratrek the money.
ZPC said:
“In the public interest, it is important to give the correct narrative on the legal implications of the Supreme Court judgement, considering that certain online articles have published an incorrect position. The Supreme Court judgement has the effect of upholding the High Court judgement granted by Honourable Justice Msithu in January 2023, in which the Gwanda EPC Contract was found to be still valid and binding on both ZPC and Intratrek Zimbabwe (Private) Limited.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the High Court judgement did not award Intratrek damages in the sum of US$22 million as alleged by some online publications or any other sum in damages for that matter. To the contrary, the High Court only granted an order for specific performance, which in simple terms requires parties to perform their respective obligations under the EPC Contract.
“Considering that the Supreme Court is the final Court of Appeal in this instance, the legal implication of today’s judgement is that ZPC and Intratrek will revert to the position that they were before the 23rd April 2018 when the EPC Contract was cancelled.”
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Source iHarare
