31st January 2019 was a historic event for Dr. Rajan Mahtani and his more than 10 years of wait. On this date, the Court of Appeal announced the final judgment for Zambezi Portland Cement. It is a cement-manufacturing factory which is being contested by two main business houses in Zambia. One of them is Dr. Rajan Mahtani, a noted businessman, philanthropist and charity worker. The compliant regarding unethical takeover of the factory from Dr. Mahtani was launched at the Lusaka High Court. After ten years of case hearings and proceedings, final judgment was given by the judge but it was against Dr. Mahtani’s claims. As such, another appeal was made to the Higher Court of Appeal.
The Higher Court of Appeal finally made an announcement reversing the judgment by the High Court given on May 2018. In May 2018, the Lusaka High Court judge announced that the Ventriglias were majority shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement. However, reversing this judgment, Justice Mwinde Siavwapa from Court of Appeal said that the judge below him was wrong to announce Ventriglias as majority shareholders.
As per the latest details, Finsbury Investment is the majority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland with 58 percent shares and on the other hand, the Ventriglias own 42 percent shares and are the minority shareholders. The judge also confirmed that this shareholding pattern is aligned with the original shareholders agreement which was established in the year 2007 which the two said parties.
The judge also discarded the allegations of forgery by announcing that the process of mechanical placement of signatures is common across Zambian corporate house with the Ventriglia family member themselves engaging in similar activities. Furthermore, both parties have been given a timeline of three months from the date of judgment to finalize on the shareholding patterns and sale of the shares for regulating the shares based on new shareholders agreement.