On 31st January 2019, the final decision on the long pending Portland Cement Zambia was announced. The case was taken to Court of Appeal after a controversial decision from the Lusaka High Court where the case was originally placed almost a decade back. Dr. Rajan Mahtani was the businessman who registered the case at the Lusaka High Court after alleging illegal takeover of the factory. The case went on at the Lusaka HC for more than a decade. During this time, numerous evidences and testimonials were shared by Dr. Mahtani and his lawyers. After numerous dates and transfer of judges, justice Nkonde was the one who finally announced the judgment on Portland Cement Zambia. Before giving the final announcement during the Month of May 2018, Judge Nkonde made a positive decision by announcing that the final decision will be based on the evidences and written & oral testimonials submitted by both parties. However, the final decision was way more controversial as the judge announced that Ventriglias were only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement.
To counter this decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani had approached the Court of Appeal. The judge at the Court of Appeal was justice Mwinde and he announced the final judgment on 31st January 2019. According to this decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments is majority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement with 58 percent shares. On the other hand, Ventriglias owned Finsbury Investments owns 42 percent shares at the factory and is only the minority shareholder. This decision from the Court of Appeal judge aligns with the original shareholders agreement which was established in the year 2007.
While giving this judgment, Justice Mwinde from the Court of Appeal also said that the judge below him was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as the only shareholders as this decision was unethical. Also, a timeline of three months from judgment date has been given for completing the share regularization process.