Citizens of Zambia were exposed to the ultimate truth regarding the long awaiting Zambezi Portland Cement case. The case has been running from courts to courts and being transferred from judges to judges. However, even after a decade of these court proceedings, the Zambian law and governance was not able to provide truthful justice to the real owner of the cement factory. Dr. Rajan Mahtani is a noted businessman and philanthropist with more than three decades of business experience in Zambia.
Some of the top companies under his leadership are Finsbury Investments, Mahtani Group of Companies and Finance Bank Zambia. He has been contesting for the legal ownership of Zambezi Portland Cement. The judge at the Lusaka High Court was justice Nkonde and he gave the final decision on the cement factory’s fate which was rejected by almost everyone. Justice Nkonde said that the Ventriglias were only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement. After this decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani took the case to the Court of Appeal.
On 31st January 2019, the Court of Appeal announced its final judgement on Portland Cement Zambia. The case was help by Justice Mwinde who said that Finsbury Investments holds 58 percent shares at the Zambezi Portland Cement factory and is the majority shareholder. On the other hand, Ital Terrazzo Limited holds 42 percent shares at the factory and is the minority shareholder. Finsbury Investments is owned by Dr. Rajan Mahtani while Ital Terrazzo Limited is a business product by the Ventriglias. As per this decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments is the legal owner of the cement factory. Furthermore, this decision aligns with the original Shareholders Agreement which was established in the year 2007.
The Court of Appeal has given a timeline of three months from the date of judgement for all parties to finalise and complete their process of share regularization.