adminRichard Muponde, Plumtree Correspondent
A BINGA businessperson has dragged the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority (Zimparks) to court, demanding the release of his two fishing rigs.
The authority allegedly impounded Mr Taurai Marava’s rigs in August last year for fishing in prohibited ‘‘breeding waters” in the Zambezi River.
Rangers allegedly made Mr Marava’s employees pay admission of guilt fines of $20 each but refused to release the vessels demanding $2 000 per boat.
Mr Marava approached the Bulawayo High Court under case number HC 2712/17, seeking an order for the release of the rigs.
“The Respondent (Zimparks) is mistaken in its view regarding the justification of holding applicant’s property. If, as respondent alleges, the applicant‘s employees were guilty of fishing in a prohibited area. The Principal Act clearly provides criminal penal sanctions, amongst which is payment of a fine of level five or imprisonment not exceeding 6 months, or to both such fine and imprisonment ,” said Mr Marava in his heads of argument filed by his lawyers, Shenje and Company.
“Once the applicant’s employees paid a fine as alleged, that at law would prevent the respondent from proceeding with criminal sanctions as the respondent would have opted to receive a lesser fine in admission of guilt as opposed to appearing in court. The Act grants the respondent the choice to accept a fine or take accused person to court but once a choice has been made, the respondent would have to live with that.”
He argued that Zimparks had no legal basis to be clinging to his property, let alone demand a prohibitive release fee per vessel, saying the authority made its own bed when it accepted the $20 fines.
Zimparks in its defence said it was justified to impound the vessels and demand the $2 000 per vessel because the boats’ activities in the Zambezi River sought to frustrate conservation and adherence to ethical fishing.
The matter has been set down for June 15 before Justice Maxwell Takuva — @richardmuponde
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