HARARE – The 100MW Gwanda solar power project will now go ahead after the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC), a subsidiary of ZESA, suffered defeat at the Supreme Court on Friday.

In 2018, ZPC cancelled the US$172 million tender awarded to Intratrek Zimbabwe, a company owned by businessman Wicknell Chivayo.

Chivayo and Intratrek were acquitted of fraud, and in January this year a High Court judge ruled that the contract was still valid, while issuing an order for ZPC to hold its end of the deal.

ZPC faced a potential damages bill of US$22 million if it failed to honour the contract, the judge said.

ZPC appealed the High Court order at the Supreme Court, but Justices Lavender Makoni, George Chiweshe and Joseph Musakwa on Friday dismissed the company’s appeal. Reasons for the judgement were not immediately availed.

Chivayo and Intratrelk’s lawyer Advocate Lewis Uriri said: “ZPC had appealed to the Supreme Court contending that the contract had been validly cancelled and terminated by the passage of time.

“They had alleged certain breaches on the part of Intratrek. The Supreme Court found this to be without merit. It found that the High Court properly exercised its discretion in the assessment of the evidence that was before it and correctly came to the finding that specific performance ought to be granted.

“As a result, therefore, the appeal was dismissed. What this means is that the Gwanda solar project will have to go on and Intratrek will have to undertake that work in accordance with the judgement of the High Court.”

In a statement, ZPC said the judgment does not create any further liability on ZPC outside that which is contained in the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract signed with Intratrek on October 23, 2015.

The company said it was now abandoning its fight against Chivayo.

“Considering that the Supreme Court is the final Court of Appeal in this instance, the legal implication of today’s judgment is that ZPC and Intratrek will revert to the position that they were before the April 23, 2018 (when contract was cancelled),” ZPC said.

“In abiding with the Supreme Court judgement, Intratrek is required under the reinstated EPC contract to facilitate the financing of the US$172 million contract within the contractual timeframe as the requirement of financial closure is key for the project to commence.

“Should such financing be raised, the borrowing instruments must be approved by the government prior to implementation of the project.”

Chivayo has raised the prospect that he could sue ZPC for damages over his arrest and subsequent prosecution, as well as the purported cancellation of the contract.