BY GRACE CHAILE-LESOETSA
CHITA Lodge and Resorts limited has applied for judicial review in the Lusaka High court to commence proceedings challenging the State’s decision to continue with a public tender of the Upper Luano Hunting concession despite its appeal against it. It wants the Court to exercise its discretion and compel Tourism minister, Ronald Chitotela to hear and determine its appeal over the decision to proceed with public tender.
It further wants the order for leave to act as a stay against the decision to proceed with the tender. In an affidavit in support of ex parte summons for leave to apply for judicial review, Chita Lodge and Resorts managing director James Chungu who cited the Attorney General as respondent said that the matter is worthy of judicial review so that the State’s decision to proceed with the tender is brought before court by way of certiorari so that it may be quashed. “That in the alternative, I truly and verily believe that this is a matter in which this honourable court can invoke its inherent jurisdiction to order that all tender proceedings in relation to upper Luano Hunting concession are suspended, or in the evnt that the tender has been awarded to order that the said award be reversed to allow the appeal process to be exhausted,” stated Mr Chungu.
He also applied for damages and costs. Mr Chungu stated that on March 18, 2020 the resort submitted an application for a hunting concession agreement to the Wildlife Management Licencing Committee(WMLC) for upper Luano by Chilanga office. Mr Chungu claimed that the application met the requirements and requisite to qualify for the concession. He stated that prior to making the said application, the applicant had been approached by senior chief Mboroma sometime in 2017 to assist in the conservation of wildlife in his chiefdom after noting that the area was losing wildlife due to unchecked and relentless poaching after the operator who was offered the concession by the name of Makasa Safaris turned it down.
Mr Chungu stated that from 2017 the applicant with knowledge and Consent of the Zambia World Life Authority (ZAWA) had been supporting the committee Resources Board for Upper Wildlife Conservation and the ZAWA office in Kabwe and further in the same period it employed 23 local people as game scouts who it pays K26, 000 monthly being wage bill, K8, 000 monthly fuel allowance for the ZAWA – Kabwe office for patrols bringing a total monthly allowance to K34, 000 up to date for 39 months has spent K1, 326, 000.
“In addition to the foregoing the applicant has been spending K28, 000 monthly for the game scouts, fuel; to run operations, food rations and food supplement for feeding of wildlife in summer among other things bringing the total of the addition expenses to K1,092, 000. The applicant has spent huge amounts of money in excess of K2, 419, 000,” Mr Chungu submitted. Mr Chungu stated that by a let[1]ter dated December 1, 2020 they were informed that its application for hunting concession had been rejected on the grounds that there was no legal basis and compelling reasons to use direct bidding for the award of a hunting agreement to Upper Luano Hunting Block.
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