A white Zimbabwean man named Terry William Kelly (73), who invested millions of US dollars into his lodge named Chewore Lodge, has lost the property after Zimbabwe’s Supreme Court cancelled a 25-year lease agreement.
Chewore Lodge is a well-known safari destination with visitors from around the world. Kelly operated the lodge for 15 years through his company, Suscaden Investments, under two leases and a settlement agreement issued by ZimParks, which accepted rent and treated the lease as valid for many years.
The courts later ruled that the lease was invalid because it did not have clear approval from the responsible minister. Although the lease document carried the former Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri’s signature and a former ZimParks official confirmed it was received through official channels, Minister Muchinguri denied signing it.
Because no one could prove she personally signed the document, the courts ruled against Kelly. This decision ignored the fact that the government allowed Kelly to operate for years and benefited from his investment and rental payments.
Kelly now faces eviction without compensation due to a failure within government processes that was beyond his control. The state’s acceptance of the lease for years was dismissed, leaving Kelly to bear the full loss. As a result of the Supreme Court ruling, Kelly is expected to lose all the millions of dollars he invested in Chewore Lodge, a high-end tourism project in the Zambezi Valley.
Not that i care that much, wondering why he’s in handcuffs, wrong!