Supreme Court dismisses Mereki Trust appeal over Warren Park land

Warren Park's beloved kwaMereki community just lost its Supreme Court bid to lock down a contested piece of municipal land in Harare.

Supreme Court shuts down the appeal

• Mereki Community Trust got unanimously dismissed by Justice Hlekani Mwayera's bench.
• Stand 5153 in Warren Park Township sat at the center of the dispute.
• Trust claimed a 2016 purchase deal for ZWL $862,500 was fully paid.
• Harare City Council denied that any valid agreement ever existed.

Why the contract fell apart legally

• The Urban Councils Act demands strict statutory procedures for municipal land sales.
• Ministerial approval was never obtained by either party.
• Harare insisted the pricing was in US dollars, not Zimbabwean dollars.
• Justice Mwayera ruled courts cannot enforce deals violating statutory requirements.

Trust's appeal arguments got nowhere

• High Court had already sided with Harare City Council previously.
• Trust challenged the admission of oral evidence from a city witness.
• Mwayera noted the Trust agreed to that evidence during the trial without protest.
• Justice Tendai Uchena backed the ruling, and the late Justice Feliciah Chatukuta concurred.

Costs and consequences pile up

• Trust got slapped with paying Harare's legal costs on top of losing.
• The city had offered to refund the payments the Trust already made.
• Statutory compliance is non-negotiable for municipal land deals.