Zimbabwe is not trying to evade payment of the US$125 million awarded in the one-sided arbitration to Border Timbers, but has lodged an appeal over the registration of this award in the Commercial Court for England and Wales and obtained leave to appeal, so the case remains open, Attorney-General Virginia Mapeza said.
She rejected claims by an online media outlet that Zimbabwe had made a failed attempt to evade a US$125 million payment to Border Timbers Ltd, describing the report in an interview as a “misrepresentation of facts”.
“From what I read it seemed to suggest we were being evasive and were trying to avoid payment and responsibility which is inaccurate.
“However, this application in London was simply intended to challenge the registration of an award in the Commercial Court of England and Wales,” she added.
Zimbabwe’s case was that Border Timbers Ltd had not fully disclosed that it was still on Zimbabwean territory and had not given notice that it had applied for registration.
“This is what Border Timbers did without warning to us, so it was this recording that we sought to set aside and more so on the basis that this company had not fully disclosed that it was still on our land.”
She said Zimbabwe was still considering whether to appeal the ruling, as she had been given the right to lodge an appeal.
“They did not make this disclosure to indicate that they were on our land and the court was not privy to this fact. So we sought to have it overturned, but unfortunately, while they agreed with us that they had not given full disclosure, the court also came to the conclusion that although they had not done so, it was not intentional.
“Having said that the court is still continuing to grant us leave to appeal, which is something we are still considering because we are still in time to appeal, so there is no victory to be scored. To say that is a misrepresentation of the facts,” she said.
One online media outlet falsely claimed that Zimbabwe was evading payment, and that “the High Court in London has rejected the Zimbabwean government’s attempt to evade payment of a US$125 million arbitration award to seize land owned by Border Timbers Ltd and Hangani Development Ltd.”
The two companies were awarded $124 million plus interest and another $1 million in moral damages and costs in 2015 under an arbitration award issued by the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
The false report stated that with this decision registered with the British courts, Zimbabwe would have to pay.
Prosecutor Mapeza noted that there were still legal options open to Zimbabwe, on the basis that Border Timbers had not presented all the facts at previous hearings and that leave to appeal had been granted. Announce
