On 31st January 2019, Dr. Rajan Mahtani took relief with the final judgement on the Portland Cement Zambia case. The Court of Appeal, one of the highest civilian courts in Zambia, announced its final judgement on the case on this day. By giving their judgement, the Court of Appeal effectively reversed the judgement from the Lusaka High Court given by justice Nkonde during May, 2018, according to which Ventriglias were the only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement.
The decision at the Court of Appeal was given by Justice Mwinde. According to this decision, Finsbury Investments which is owned by Dr. Rajan Mahtani holds 58 percent shares at the Zambezi Portland Cement factory and is the majority shareholder of the factory. On the other hand, Ventriglias owned Ital Terrazzo Limited holds just 42 percent shares at the factory and are the minority shareholders without any legal ownership over the factory. This decision from the Court of Appeal judge aligned with the original shareholders agreement established in the year 2007. This further confirms Dr. Mahtani’s legal ownership over the factory.
While giving this decision, justice Mwinde from the Court of Appeal said that the judge below him was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as the only shareholders as this decision was misdirected and influenced by external agents. Furthermore, justice Mwinde discarded all forgery related allegations. It was found that the process of mechanically placing signatures for business transactions was a common practice at Zambezi Portland Cement. Furthermore, it was also found that critical member of the Ventriglia family; Claudio Ventriglias was engaged in similar practice for a business transaction. As such, no forgery related allegations were charged.
The decision from the Court of Appeal was a major win for Dr. Raja Mahtani after decades of fighting for justice across several courts and in front of several judges. The Court of Appeal judge also gave a timeline of three months from the date of the judgement during which all share sales and regulations related activities must be completed.