Company director acquitted of poaching

Herald Reporter

CHARGES of poaching against businessman William Terrence Kelly have been dropped after Harare magistrate, Mrs Appolonia Marutya, granted his application for dismissal of the case on the basis that there was no substance to them.

Represented by Mr Everson Chatambudza, Kelly had pleaded not guilty to charges of poaching and stealing from the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks).

Kelly is the managing director of Suscaden Investments, a company, which owns a fishery concession in the Zambezi Valley.

He was accused of violating the Parks and Wildlife Management Act by hunting illegally and stealing motion cameras left at a bait by ZimParks.

In denying the charges, Kelly said while the area in question was leased to his company, Suscaden, by ZimParks and was a no-hunting area in terms of the approved plan for Chewore North, the alleged illegal hunting was not conducted by his company.

Kelly submitted that in terms of the lease agreement signed between ZimParks and Suscaden in September 2017, hunting was not permitted in the leased area and Suscaden had an obligation to ensure that no hunting took place in that area.

He said there had indeed, been illegal hunting in the area leased to Suscaden from as far back as October 2022 and he had been reporting itto ZimParks, but no action was taken.

Mr Chatambudza said: “He (Kelly) followed some tracks and found a hunter’s bait on a tree and a hide from, which animals attracted by the bait could be shot.

“He made a report to two ZimParks rangers at Chewore Lodge and asked them to investigate the issue, but they declined to take action saying they could only act on the orders of their boss.”

Mr Chatambudza said Kelly then sent a WhatsApp message to the rangers’ supervisor telling him that there was illegal hunting in the area.

Kelly said he could not ignore the illegal hunting as he had an obligation to ensure that the terms of the lease agreement were followed.

He said he went back to the bait and recovered the camera as an exhibit and sent the camera to ZimParks offices where an officer refused to accept it.

After a while, he was called to Kanyemba Police Station where he was charged. He said the matter was referred to court at Guruve, but the National Prosecuting Authority declined to prosecute.

Kelly said he was shocked when in 2023, police officers from Bindura took him to Kanyemba reportedly on the instructions of a senior police officer.

He was, however, finally set free when the court granted his application for discharge.