Couple fight over company ownership

Daniel Nemukuyu Senior Court Reporter

The High Court has dismissed with costs an application by a Harare woman to wrestle 50 percent shareholding in Classic Super Foods (Pvt) Ltd. Mrs Sinikiwe Mparutsa, who is in the middle of a divorce with her husband Mr Alvin Nyaradzai Mparutsa, lost her bid to amend documentation to indicate her as a 50 percent shareholder in a company that is being operated by her husband.

The husband contends that he owns 100 percent shareholding in the company resulting in a dispute of facts, which the court said it cannot decide in a court application of that nature.

High Court judge Justice Mary Dube threw out Mrs Mparutsa’s application saying she first needs to prove that she is entitled to the shares before seeking rectification of the ownership documentation.

“An applicant is not entitled to rectification of a register where there is a dispute of fact regarding his or her title to the shares. The question of ownership of shares is a question of fact.

“The difficulties associated with determining an issue related to title to shares on motion where a dispute of fact has been raised, cannot be underestimated.

A court faced with a challenge to title to shares in an application to rectify a register is entitled, where material disputes of fact arise which it is incapable of resolving on the papers, to refuse to deal with the application and dismiss it,” ruled Justice Dube.

Mrs Mparutsa relied on a resolution allegedly used in obtaining a loan which, from nowhere, states that she owned 50 percent shareholding, but the court disregarded it.

“A resolution by a company to obtain a loan where it records out of the blue that a party owns shares, does not suffice as proof of acquisition of such shares.

“More needs to be shown to prove ownership of the shares,” the judge said.

Recently, Mrs Mparutsa and her brother appeared before a Harare magistrate on allegations of conniving to defraud Mr Mparutsa of more than $12 000 in a botched salary scandal.

Bright Chiororo (40) and his sister Mrs Mparutsa (46) were facing four counts of fraud when they appeared before Mbare magistrate Mr Stanford Mambanje.

The complainant in the matter is Classic Super Foods, represented by its director Mr Mparutsa.

Mr Mambanje remanded the pair to December 1 on $150 bail for trial commencement.

According to the State papers, sometime in September, October, November and December 2011, Mrs Mparutsa misrepresented to Classic Super Foods Private Limited that Chiororo was employed by the company and was awarded different amounts as salary for four months.

It is alleged that as a result of the misrepresentation, Chiororo was paid a salary for four months knowing that he was not employed by Classic Super Foods.

During the first month, Chiororo was paid $2 879,49, and $3 264,87 during the second, third and fourth month, respectively.

The company claims it was prejudiced of $12 673 and nothing was recovered.