Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani Announced Majority Shareholder Of ZPC, Final Decision From Court Of Appeal

On 31^st January 2019, the Court of Appeal announced their final decision on the Zambezi Portland Cement. This decision was given by justice Mwinde, a notable judge from the court. The Zambezi Portland Cement case was contested by two major parties in Zambia- Dr. Rajan Mahtani and the Ventriglias. Before Court of Appeal, the case went on at the Lusaka High Court for ten long years. Despite this long time, the final decision from the Lusaka High Court judge was controversial as Justice Nkonde announced that Ventriglias were only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement. This forced Dr. Rajan Mahtani to approach Court of Appeal.

The judge from the Court of Appeal announced its decision which effectively reversed the judgement from Lusaka High Court. As per this decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments is the majority shareholder of Zambezi Portland with 58 percent shares. On the other hand, Ventriglias owned Ital Terrazzo Limited is minority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement with only 42 percent shares. As per this decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani becomes the legal owner of the Zambezi Portland Cement factory.

Justice Mwinde, while giving this decision, iterated that the judge below him was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as only shareholders without any proof or evidence. Furthermore, all allegations of forgery were discarded by the judge and it was announced that the practice of mechanical placement of signatures was common practice in Zambezi Portland Cement and important member of the Ventriglia family engaged in similar practice. Also, the judge gave a timeline of three months from the date of the judgment during which all share regularization process must be completed.

In a common pattern, the decision from the Court of Appeal faced allegations from various reports and publications that the judgement was wrong. However, these publications and news groups faded quickly as these allegations were found to be inconsistent.