For the past ten years, Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani fought for the legal takeover of the Zambezi Portland Cement. He is one of the most transparent and ethical businessman in Zambia who has been working within legal guidelines despite the various hardships as well as shortcomings of the Zambian government. Portland Cement Zambia case was launched at the Lusaka High Court and when the judge at the high court failed to provide the right judgement despite ten years of case proceedings, Dr. Rajan Mahtani took the right step and approached to Court of Appeal.
The Court of Appeal announced its final judgement on 31st January 2019. The judge at the Court of Appeal was justice Mwinde and he announced the judgement during the morning hours of the court session. According to this judgement, 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 is the minority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement with only 42 percent shares. Based on this shareholding pattern, Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the only legal owner of the factory. This decision aligns with original Shareholders Agreement established in 2007.
During this decision, the judge at the Court of Appeal also revealed several new details related to the project. One of the most important was a claim of K1 billion with interest by Finsbury Investments. This claim was made against the entire share capital issued to Finsbury Investments on the Zambezi Portland Cement. The judge from Court of Appeal also confirmed this claim with details of financial records showing share transfers during 2006 and 2007. Furthermore, the judge also gave a timeline of three months from the date of the judgement. Both parties are required to complete the share regularization process during this period and submit evidence before the court.
