On 31st January 2019, a significant announcement was made by Court of Appeal, one of the highest legal systems in Zambia. This announcement was made for Portland Cement Zambia, cement manufacturing factory which was contested by two major business parties in Zambia. One of the business parties included the Ventriglias and the other was Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani. Portland Cement Zambia has been at the forefront of news for a long time. Before being illegally captured, the cement-manufacturing factory was known for its success stories, including its higher than average production of high-quality cement as well as its above industry average salaries and compensations for its workers, employees and staff. However, things changed dramatically after the factory was illegally taken over.
At first, Dr. Mahtani took the case to Lusaka High Court. There, the case was dragged for more than ten years, majorly due to shortcomings of the legal system within Zambia. The final decision from Lusaka High Court came from justice Nkonde during the month of May 2018. This was an extremely controversial decision in which Ventriglias were announced as majority shareholder despite all evidences, testimonials stating otherwise. After this misdirected judgement, Dr. Mahtani again approached Court of Appeal.
The final decision from the Court of Appeal came on 31st January 2019 from justice Mwinde. Based on this decision, Finsbury Investments was declared majority shareholding company with 58 percent shares at the factory. Since Finsbury Investments is a company owned by Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani, it is clear that Dr. Rajan Mahtani ultimately becomes the legal owner of the factory.
Rajan Mahtani News 