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Prosper Dembedza Herald Correspondent

An application for exception by a 68-year-old man who is facing charges of contravening the Parks and Wildlife Act has been dismissed by a Harare magistrate.

In the application, the accused William Terrence Kelly argued that the charges in the State outline do not disclose an offence.

However, in her ruling, the magistrate said the issues raised in the application relates to mis-citations of the relevant provisions.

“The charges are clear and they are disclosing an offence,” ruled the magistrate.

She said some of the issues raised by the accused relate to defences and not to the validity of the charges.

Kelly is facing charges of contravening the Parks and Wildlife Act, theft and unlawful borrowing or use of property.

It is the State’s case that on August 10, Cliffton Walker, a professional hunter number 402 submitted his hunting permit TRAS2 number 086342 where upon he was going to hunt and kill a lion and a leopard in Big-Five Concession (Chewore North) from 10 August to September 2, 2023.

On the same date, Walker was assigned to a ZimParks game ranger Manoti Mukotowa to monitor the hunt so that the hunter abides by the conditions of the hunting ethics.

The professional hunter killed three hippopotamuses and set baits at strategic point through the guidance of Zimparks game rangers.

On August 11, Walker set up a bait using a hippopotamus hind quarter at a point about 450 metres due west of an airstrip that is about 11km from the Kapirinhengu Field Station and about 8km from Chewore Lodges being operated by Kelly.

At the same time, Walker set up a Bushnell motion sensor camera adjacent to the hanging bait.

It is alleged that Walker would come on a daily basis checking the bait and extracting data from the motion sensor camera.

On August 14, Walker and his team shot and killed a lion from the bait site.

The court heard that they left the bait intact as well as the camera for a leopard.

On August 15, Kelly unlawfully entered into the safari area where Walker had set a bait. He chopped down the hanging bait from the tree and took the Bushnell motion sensor camera and went away.

Investigations were done leading to the arrest of the accused and recovery of the Bushnell motion sensor camera from Kelly through his employee Tawanda Chidhuza on August 18.

The accused person had no right to enter into a ZimParks safari area without permission, interfere with a duly authorized hunt as well as taking the motion sensor camera, a technical device, without authority.