THE CURRENT STATE OF LITIGATION – PENDING AND OTHERWISE, IN THE ZAMBIAN HUNTING SAFARI INDUSTRY IN 2007

Case One:

1. Termination of Leopard Ridge safaris (LR) hunting concession by the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA).
2. LR ceased hunting
3. LR, represented by Wynter Kabimba & Associates (WMK) applied to the High Court for a judicial review and a stay of execution.
4. Judge refused stay
5. Judge directed the matter go to arbitration

Case Two:

1. WMK advised Leopard Ridge that the community partners in the tripartite Hunting Concession Agreement (HCA), the Nawalya Community Resource Board (CRB), could take action against ZAWA, for a number of reasons: 1) as signators to the HCA they had not been consulted on the matter, 2) they were happy with LR, and 3) they stood to lose income from hunting.
2. The CRB applied in the High Court for an injunction prohibiting the cessation of hunting safaris.
3. The CRB were granted the injunction, and LR resumed hunting
4. ZAWA appealed to the Supreme Court
5. The Supreme Court ordered that LR cease hunting.
6. At 4.00 am in the third week of August, a force comprising ZAWA Wildlife Police Officers and paramilitary, moved in to the LR field camp in the Luangwa, served LR with the order, and advised them to pack up immediately and leave. Clients were at the time hunting with Greg Michelson – shareholder in LR.


Case Three:

1. The National Movement Against Corruption (NAMAC) and the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) were defeated in the High Court over charges that the outfitters had overshot their quotas, four of which had contested the action. NAMAC/ZAWA had appealed to the Supreme Court, and had lost, on 19th July 2007.
2. Following the dismissal of the appeal the Appellants (NAMAC)
agreed that the consent judgment which was signed between ZAWA and
NAMAC be set aside by consent of the parties. WMK on behalf of the safari four, agreed to this proposal as it did not in any way prejudice the safari four case.
However, NAMAC have now raised a counterclaim against the companies
involved, and ZAWA as Defendants, with the intention of obtaining
judgment in similar terms as those contained in the consent judgment
previously signed with ZAWA.
3. However NAMAC clearly wishes to obtain a decision to terminate the HCA of the four outfitters..
4. ZAWA, through its Director-General, is in agreement with this decision of NAMAC’s

Case Four:

1. In October, LR go to the Supreme Court in an attempt to win back their Nyampala concession – being represented by WMK in the matter.

Case Five:

1. On 4 September, the case of Mbeza Safaris three resident director/shareholders is heard in the High Court as a result of a stay of execution and judicial review granted against the Minister of Home Affairs, the Chief Immigration Officer and the Attorney-General in the matter of the Minister’s refusal to renew their self-employed work permits as is required for investors holding investment certificates under the Investment Act of Zambia. WMK acts for the resident Mbeza executive shareholder/directors.
2. These events coincided with the start of the hunting season, and followed an attack by unknown persons on the Mbeza client base recruited by hunting agents based in Johannesburg, Munich and Paris; and by a known professional hunter impersonating a Zambia Wildlife Police Officer who suggested to an Mbeza client that the company might have been guilty of an offence while hunting that person the previous season. Police are currently investigating, although the matter was reported to the Professional Hunters Association of Zambia and the Zambia Wildlife Authority. As part of the affidavit to the learned High Court judge, WMK stated that the unproven accusations by the Principal Private Secretary to the President accusing the owners of LR and Mbeza Safaris as having attended a secret lunch at which the overthrow of the Government and the destruction of Zambia’s maize stocks, had contributed to moves by the state against them.