At long last, the criminal intentions of the Ventriglias have been knocked down. The Court of Appeal, which is the highest civilian court system in Zambia, announced the final results on the long-pending Portland Cement Zambia case. It was first registered by Dr. Rajan Mahtani, a noted businessman and philanthropist in Zambia who claimed that the factory was unethically taken away from him. The case was first registered at the Lusaka High Court which took more than a decade to provide any judgement. Despite this long haul, the final judgement from the Lusaka High Court was extremely controversial.
The judge at the Court of Appeal was justice Mwinde who gave the final decision on 31st January 2019. By giving this judgement, the Court of Appeal effectively reversed the decision delivered by Lusaka High Court justice Nkonde during the month of May, 2018. After looking into all evidences and testimonials, the judge at the Court of Appeal announced his final decision. According to this decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments is the majority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement with 58 percent shares. On the other hand, Ventriglias owned Ital Terrazzo Limited holds just 42 percent shares and is the minority shareholder without any legal ownership over the factory. Based on this shareholding pattern, it is clear that Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments is the majority shareholder and legal owner of the factory. While giving this judgement, justice Mwinde also said that this decision aligned with the original shareholders agreement established in the year 2007.
From this decision, it is clearly established that Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the legal owner of the Zambezi Portland Cement factory. While Dr. Rajan Mahtani finally won the case with his patience and perseverance, it is a long path for him as well as the entire Zambian economy and society to ensure that their legal and political systems are devoid of corruption and corrupt individuals.