The Supreme Court has reserved judgment in a case where the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) appealed against a High Court ruling that found Wicknell Chivayo not guilty of breaching contractual agreements of the Gwanda Solar Project.
In 2013 Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) — a subsidiary of ZESA Holdings, floated a tender for the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of a 1000MW Gwanda Solar Power Station Project. Chivayo’s Intratek Zimbabwe reportedly bid but lost. However, the terms of the tender were changed to allow Intratek (together with Chinese company ZTE) to be accepted and supply the solar stations.
It was alleged that the initial partners, Greenfield Solar of Germany, did not have the financing for such a project, after having been awarded the tender. They would later enter into a partnership with a Chinese company, China Electric Company, to build a now even bigger power station, said to be at the tune of US$750 million in Gwanda.
In 2014, Intratrek Zimbabwe partnered with Green Solar Europa to build a $350 million solar power station. However, China Jiangxi Corporation won the contract with a bid of $184 million.
ZPC demanded that Intratrek partner with Jiangxi, who had won the contract. Intratrek and ZTE then lowered their initial bid of $248 million to match Jiangxi’s price.
The State Procurement Board (SPB) later cancelled Jiangxi’s contract, alleging that they had raised their price. Intratrek was eventually awarded the contract for $202 million, although the initial reported price was $171 million, and there is no explanation for the $30 million difference or the multiple changes in the project’s cost.
Intratrek Zimbabwe won the bid for the 1000 MW Gwanda Solar Project in 2015 and received $5.6 million in advance payment for preparatory work. However, legal disputes have prevented the project from being implemented. ZPC cancelled the tender after Wicknell had allegedly failed to meet the set deadlines. He challenged and the High Court judge, Justice Priscilla Munangati-Monongwa, handed down a judgement in January 2023 declaring the EPC contract valid and extant, which means that the contract is legally valid and binding between the parties.
The court also ordered ZPC to pay Intratrek for the work done, which amounted to US$1,191,374, and the outstanding balance of US$693,000. The High Court also gave Chivayo approval to proceed with the project.
ZPC then appealed against the High Court ruling. The case is now before the Supreme Court for review.
This is happening when some Zimbabweans are angry with Wicknell Chivayo for importing six luxurious vehicles worth about 3.5 million dollars while the Gwanda Solar Project has not yet started. Although Chivayo claims his success is due to his faith in God, some members of the public believe he is using stolen money. Zimbabwe is currently facing a severe power shortage due to old power generation equipment, corruption, and irregular rainfall.