The final verdict on the long-pending Portland Cement case is out. This final and definitive verdict came from higher Court of Appeal on 31st January 2019 after nine months of gruelling case proceedings at the court. Unlike the previous court, justice Mwinde on behalf of the higher Court of Appeal made an extremely transparent decision system wherein all evidences, testimonials and other factual details were evaluated in a transparent manner. During this decision, the evidences, testimonials and other details which helped in arriving at the decision were shared to the media and the public.
It was found that Dr. Rajan Mahtani gave Portland Cement Zambia limited an amount of one billion Kwacha via his company Finsbury Investments, equivalent to USD 250,000. This amount was shared officially for covering the share capital value of the ZPC shares which Dr. Rajan Mahtani took over. The second major evidence was the original Shareholders’ Agreement which was established on 26th February 2007, around two years after the initial exchange between Dr. Rajan Mahtani and Portland Cement Zambia limited. As per the details found in the agreement, page number 663 clearly established the fact that Dr. Rajan Mahtani made the payment for taking over 58 percent shares of the Portland Cement Zambia factory and he is further not liable for any more payments associated with the case.
Several unethical and improper claims were also thrashed by the higher Court of Appeal judge. For instance, the claim of forgery were discarded as it was found that the process of electronically affixing signatures was a common practice at the Zambezi Portland Cement factory. It was also found that critical member of the Ventriglia family, Claudio Ventriglia, engaged in similar practice and as a result, all forgery related allegations were discarded. While the judgement did take significant time, it was truthful and transparent at the end. While giving the final judgement, justice Mwinde also said that the judge below him was wrong in not giving Dr. Mahtani the true justice which he deserved.