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Fidelis Munyoro
The Constitutional Court has rejected Fairclot Investment’s bid to appeal a Supreme Court decision regarding a debt settlement
of over $4,9 million in local currency.
Fairclot had sought to challenge the September 2023 Supreme Court judgment that allowed West Property Holdings Limited
Zimbabwe to proceed with its Pomona City development.
This followed a long-standing financial dispute between Augur Investments and Fairclot Investments over payment for a dual
carriageway leading to Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Harare.
Fairclot argued that the Supreme Court’s decision in a non-constitutional matter had violated its fundamental rights as
guaranteed by the country’s Constitution.
However, the Constitutional Court deemed Fairclot’s request “untenable and strange”, likely due to the fact that direct access to
the Constitutional Court is typically only permitted in exceptional circumstances as outlined in Section 167 of the Constitution.
Cases reach the Constitutional Court through various channels, including appeals from lower courts. Decisions from the High
Court or Supreme Court can also be appealed at the Constitutional Court.
However, in exceptional circumstances, individuals or companies can bring matters directly to the Constitutional Court.
On Thursday, a bench of three Constitutional Court Judges, Justice Paddington Garwe, Rita Makarau and Anne-Mary Gowora
turned away the Fairclot bid for direct access to the court to quash a Supreme Court decision.
The judges agreed that the decision made by the Supreme Court was on a non-constitutional issue.
In a judgment delivered in September last year, a three-judge panel of Justices Chinembiri Bhunu, George Chiweshe and
Hlekani Mwayera unanimously agreed that the debt was executable in local currency, in terms of the country’s financial laws.
This means Augur fully discharged its liability when it paid Fairclot in local currency, putting to rest the protracted financial
dispute between the two companies and allowing West Property to continue with its developments at Stand 654 Pomona Township.
Online Reporter