If one were to believe the reports from the Court of Appeal’s latest judgement on Portland Cement Zambia, the actual and legal owner of the cement-manufacturing factory will be clear. On 31st January 2019, the Court of Appeal announced its final decision on the long pending Portland Cement Zambia case. However, it is not the first court where the case was registered. Actually, the case was registered at the Lusaka High Court, almost a decade back. It should be also noted here that the case was registered by Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani, a noted businessman and philanthropist who claimed that the factory was illegally taken over from him. While Dr. Rajan Mahtani and his lawyers had all the required evidences and testimonials for a quick judgement, it took more than a decade for the Court to provide a decision for the case. On top of that, the judge at the Lusaka High Court announced a decision which was extremely controversial. According to this decision, Ventriglias are the only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement.
This judgement was successfully countered by Dr. Rajan Mahtani at the Court of Appeal. The judge at the Court of Appeal was justice Mwinde. According to his judgement on behalf of Court of Appeal, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments is majority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement with 58 percent shares at the factory. On the other hand, Ventriglias owned Ital Terrazzo Limited holds just 42 percent shares at the factory and is the minority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement. Based on this shareholding pattern, it is clear that Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the legal owner of the factory.
Furthermore, judge Mwinde from the Court of Appeal also said that the judge below him was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as the only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement as this decision was biased and without any evidence.