No more Baobab land case - Court
THE Court of Appeal has dismissed a Lusaka resident’s attempt to reopen his challenge against the Supreme Court’s decision which upheld Government’s compulsory acquisition of the Baobab land.
In this case, Jonathan Van Blerk appealed to the Court of Appeal against the High Court’s refusal to allow him mount an attack on the Supreme Court judgment, which upheld the compulsory acquisition of 3,512. 42 hectares of Farm number 4300 (the Baobab land) for public use.Prior to 1987, Mr. Blerk was the registered owner of the said land but on April 22, 1987 the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources issued a Notice of Intention to Acquire Property and Notice to Yield Possession pursuant to sections 5 and 6 of the Lands Acquisition Act.
He challenged the acquisition in the High Court but his action was dismissed for incompetence. He later appealed to the Supreme Court, which also upheld the High Court’s judgment and reasoning.
A portion of the acquired land was later leased to Legacy Holdings Limited to build a hotel and develop a luxurious golf course but the company abandoned it after which the land was repossessed and leased to Kwikbuild Construction (Z) Limited for agricultural purposes.
In addition, the Attorney General and Lusaka City Council leased a portion of the land to Bantu Corporation Limited, which subdivided, assigned and sold part of its acquired portion to Nyimba Investments Limited.
Mr. Blerk later challenged the acquisition of part of Farm number 4300 for alleged fraudulent misrepresentation but High Court Judge Mathew Zulu dismissed the case on grounds that the matter had been adjudicated by a competent court and therefore might not be pursued further by the same parties.
This prompted him to appeal to the Court of Appeal which dismissed his appeal on Friday, August 30, 2019.
Court of Appeal Judge president Fulgency Chisanga and Judges Catherine Makungu and Mubanga Kondolo dismissed Mr. Blerk’s appeal on grounds that the matter had already been heard and determined.