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Mashudu Netsianda Senior Court Reporter
HOME AFFAIRS Minister Kembo Mohadi has filed opposing papers challenging a Bulawayo High Court provisional order granted in favour of Barbara Lunga, the liquidator of Nerry Investments and Red Queen Trading (Pvt) Ltd.Lunga had applied to the High Court seeking an order barring Minister Mohadi from interfering with the operations of the two liquidated firms.
Minister Mohadi together with his wife, Tambudzani and business associates, Brian Moyo, Alistair Moyo and John Josias Moyo, have shares in Nerry Investments and Red Queen (Pvt) Ltd. They were cited as respondents.
Justice Martin Makonese last month granted a provisional order barring the minister from interfering with operations of an investor, AfricOil, which has bought the liquidated fuel depot, Red Queen, for about $2,3 million.
In his notice of opposition filed at the Bulawayo High Court on Friday, Minister Mohadi challenged the provisional order, arguing that there were illegalities and allegations of fraud in the sale of the properties.
“The confirmation of the provisional order is strongly opposed on the basis that if granted the final order will hurt me being a shareholder in Nerry Investments (Pvt) Ltd. It will also seriously hurt the justice in the Republic of Zimbabwe and such consequence is against public policy in that there were serious illegalities and allegations of fraud in the sale of properties,” he said.
Minister Mohadi said the legality of the liquidator’s sale of the properties borders on criminal and civil fraud and maladministration of assets of the liquidated companies.
“Lunga took her own initiative to sell the property without authority and approval of shareholders and all these legal issues need to be interrogated and ventilated in different proceedings which if a final order is granted will only be to render that interrogation nugatory and academic,” he said.
Minister Mohadi further accuses Lunga of conniving with Bulawayo businessman, Reginald McGillivray Dawson, a shareholder in both companies under liquidation who purportedly sold the properties without notifying other shareholders. He said Lunga failed to produce proof of her legal authority to sell the company property.
“The liquidator’s active involvement with this single director/shareholder in this transaction from day one creates a scenario where we could impute connivance on her part,” he said.
The Minister, who is being represented by Obert David Mawadze of Manase and Manase, also disputed Lunga’s assertion that Stand 1418 in Beitbridge on which Nerry Investments operated from was leased to Red Queen Trading by the Beitbridge Town Council.
“Stand Number 1418 in Beitbridge was at all material times sold and owned by Nerry Investments to which I am a shareholder. It was never leased by the Beitbridge Town Council to Red Queen Trading. One has to ask a legal question, that in the absence of cancellation of a lease to buy between Beitbridge Town Council and Nerry Investments, in the absence of a valid sale, donation, cession of title, rights and interests in Stand 1418 by Nerry Investments, how did Red Queen Trading find itself owning that stand?” queried Minister Mohadi in his opposing affidavit.
He said the lease with option to purchase agreement between Red Queen Trading and Beitbridge Town Council was firstly signed in Bulawayo on July 31, 2014 by Lunga and later sealed by the council’s then acting town secretary, Simon Muleya.
He said the lease to purchase was for a non-existent and illegal subdivision of the purported Stand 1419 coming from Stand 1418. In her application, through her lawyer, Joseph James, Lunga accused the respondents of taking the law into their hands by taking over stands on number 1418 and 1419 on which the liquidated firm operated from.
However, Minister Mohadi in his response claimed that there was a scam involving officials from the Beitbridge Town Council and the department of physical town planning in Gwanda who illegally subdivided Stand Number 1418 in contravening of Section 39 of the Regional and Town Country Planning Act.
“The application was made and filed on September 30, 2014; the title deed in AfricOil’s name was lodged with the Bulawayo Deeds Office on the same date. How so fast if experience in lodging of registration of title deeds documents with the registrar of deeds is to be taken into account?” the Minister said.
He said if the final order is granted, and the business affairs of the companies finally wound up, the respondents would suffer irreparable loss.
“I humbly move that confirmation of the provisional order granted by this honourable court on October 23 in this application be refused and the application dismissed with costs on legal practitioner and client scale,” he said.
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