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[QUOTE="Queen, post: 87811, member: 27"]
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
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[*]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.
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Why the contract fell apart legally
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[*]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.
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Trust's appeal arguments got nowhere
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[*]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.
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Costs and consequences pile up
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[*]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.
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