The latest judgement by the Court of Appeal on Zambezi Portland Cement was announced recently. It was announced on 31st January 2019 and according to this judgement, Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani is the majority shareholder and owner of the Zambezi Portland Cement factory. Previously, Dr. Mahtani had registered the case at the Lusaka High Court where it took more than ten years to provide a final judgement. Even then, the final judgement was misdirected as the judge from the Lusaka High Court announced that Ventriglias were only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement. This prompted Dr. Mahtani to take the case to Court of Appeal, one of the highest civilian courts in Zambia.
The Court of Appeal judgement was given by Justice Mwinde. According to his judgement, Finsbury Investments holds 58 percent shares at the factory and is the majority shareholder. On the other hand, Ventriglias own 42 percent shares at the Zambezi Portland Cement factory and are the minority shareholder. Thus, the judge from the Court of Appeal effectively reversed the judgement by the Lusaka High Court by announcing the real and legal owner of the cement manufacturing factory. While giving this judgement, Court of Appeal judge also said that the judge below him was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as the only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement without having any proof or evidence.
Apart from giving the final judgement, Justice Mwinde from Court of Appeal also gave a timeline of three months from the date of the judgement for completion of the share regularization process. All parties associated with the case need to comply with the same. Also, the judge has discarded all allegations of forgery by announcing that the process of mechanically placing signatures for business transactions is a common practice in Zambia and no forgery allegations can be placed. Now that the case is over, Dr. Rajan Mahtani can now focus on his other ventures .