Finsbury Investments Finally Received Ownership Of Zambezi Portland Cement Courtesy Of Court Of Appeal

The date 31^st January 2019 was historic for Dr. Rajan Mahtani as after years of patient wait, he was given justice. On this date, the Court of Appeal announced that Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments was the majority shareholder and owner of the Zambezi Portland Cement. By giving this judgement, the Court of Appeal effectively reversed the judgement from Lusaka High Court which announced during May 2018 that the Ventriglias were only shareholders of Zambezi Portland Cement. However, this decision was condemned and considered against the law as the judge did not look into the actual facts, evidence or testimonials which were completely different from the judgement provided. As such, it was clear that the final decision from the Lusaka High Court which came almost a decade after the first case was registered by Dr. Rajan Mahtani, was influenced by external forces.

As per the new judgement by the Court of Appeal, Finsbury Investments holds 58 percent shares at the factory and is the majority shareholder. The Ventriglias, on the other hand, hold 42 percent shares and are the minority shareholders without any ownership. This judgement was given by Justice Mwinde who also said that the judge below him, Justice Nkonde from Lusaka High Court, was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as majority shareholders without looking into the evidences and facts. The new and final judgement given by the judge at the Court of Appeal also aligns with the original Shareholders Agreement which was established in the year 2007. The Court of Appeal also discarded all forgery allegations by confirming that the practice of mechanical placement of signatures across documents is a common practice within Zambezi Portland and even Claudio Ventriglia, a member of the Ventriglia business family engaged in similar practice.

Three months of timeframe has been given for completing the regularization process of the sales as per the new decision at the Court of Appeal.