Court ruling reopens Norton land dispute

A protracted legal battle over land rights in Norton has been reignited after the High Court ordered the reinstatement of a previously dismissed case between two rival property development companies locked in a bitter dispute over the lucrative Swallowfield Estates.

On July 11, High Court judge Justice Chikowero ruled in favour of Drowack (Pvt) Ltd, granting the company's application to reinstate Case HCH7709/22, which had been dismissed on February 26 this year. The dispute pits Drowack against Cape Valley Construction (Pvt) Ltd, with both firms claiming rights to develop the sought-after Swallowfield land.

The reinstatement comes under Case No HCH978/25 and clears the way for the long-running feud over development rights and contract validity to proceed to full trial. This decision effectively reopens hostilities between the two companies, both of which claim legal entitlement to the lucrative estate.

The legal wrangle returned to prominence earlier this year when the Environmental Management Agency (Ema) issued an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) certificate to Cape Valley on April 1, giving the firm the regulatory green light to begin its long-delayed development project. Cape Valley had previously celebrated the February dismissal of two key cases, HCH7709/22 and HCH7555/22, as confirmation of its unchallenged development rights.

Cape Valley managing director Primrose Chakuchichi said her company had invested more than US$4 million into the project before being abruptly sidelined in October 2023, allegedly by one of the landowners acting on the advice of individuals who are not listed on the land's title deeds.

"We said, you cannot cancel the contract without giving back our money. Honour us for what we have done," Chakuchichi said earlier this year in the company's newsletter, referencing the investments Cape Valley had already made on the project.

Following the February court ruling, Cape Valley publicly declared that its legal pathway had been cleared. However, Drowack strongly contested this interpretation, arguing that the issuance of the EIA certificate was premature given the unresolved legal status of the land and ongoing litigation. Drowack has pointed to an earlier arbitral ruling in its favour (HCH1692/24) and cited additional pending litigation (HH2222/25) as evidence that the matter was far from settled.

Swallowfield Estates representative Isaac Chiduku has maintained that all court processes must be completed before any development proceeds, citing previous High Court judgments (HH214/23, HH215/23) and a Supreme Court ruling (SC219/23) that restricted Cape Valley and its affiliates from carrying out any development activities on the contested land.

With Friday's High Court ruling reinstating HCH7709/22, both Drowack and Cape Valley must now return to court where the core of their competing claims will be heard and adjudicated.

The judgment also specified that each party will bear its own legal costs, possibly reflecting the complex and drawn-out nature of the dispute, which has now dragged on for several years with no clear end in sight.