ZMDC contests Briton’s appointment on abitration panel

Limited and Amari Nickel Holdings Zimbabwe Limited are suing the corporation for nullifying Memorandums of Understanding they entered into for platinum and nickel concessions.
The two companies are seeking US$35 million between them for damages they claim to have suffered as a result of the cancellation of the deals.
Mr Stewart Isaacs, a barrister in the United Kingdom, was nominated by the UK International Chamber of Commerce national committee to chair the tribunal.
Other members of the panel are South African judge Justice Meyer Joffe, a nominee of Amaplat and prominent Zimbabwean lawyer Mr James Mutizwa nominated by ZMDC.
Mr Mutizwa has since resigned from the panel citing the fact that he was not being consulted on certain issues of the matter.
ZMDC’s court action to remove Mr Isaacs and Justice Joffe from the case comes after its challenge to the tribunal’s jurisdiction over the matter was rejected and the duo’s refusal to step down.
ZMDC had alleged bias against it on the part of the two arbitrators.
The case was heard in Cape Town, South Africa, from August 13 to 24 before it was referred to the International Court of Arbitration in Paris, France, to determine the application for recusal.
Again, ZMDC lost and the dispute was referred to the seat of arbitration in this case the High Court of Zambia, which was appointed supervisor of the arbitration process.
In the event of a dispute between the parties, the High Court of Zambia would come in to determine the case.
ZMDC chairman Mr Godwills Masimirembwa told The Herald on Wednesday that when the hearing began in Cape Town, ZMDC challenged the tribunal’s jurisdiction to determine the dispute on the grounds that the MoUs were invalid and tainted with illegalities.
He said the MoUs were not approved by the Mines and Mining Development ministry in terms of the law.
Mr Masimirembwa said Mr Isaacs and Justice Joffe demonstrated bias when they refused to determine a jurisdictional challenge, which they had raised as a preliminary point on the matter.
“ZMDC was not happy with Justice Joffe in that he was descending into the arena and exhibited lack of independence and appeared biased against us,” said Mr Masimirembwa.
“Secondly, we were not happy with (Mr) Isaacs being chairman of the tribunal itself. First and foremost, he is a British national and the UK is a member of the EU. His country has actively campaigned for the imposition of sanctions on ZMDC and various other Zimbabwean natural and legal entities.”
Mr Masimirembwa said ZMDC got the distinct impression that Mr Isaacs was colluding with Justice Joffe in showing favour for the claimants.
“By virtue of being a British national ZMDC was satisfied that he can’t be impartial when his own country is hostile to us.”
Mr Masimirembwa said they took the matter with ICA in Paris seeking to remove the duo from the case but they lost. He said after they lost it in Paris, they approached the High Court of Zambia where ZMDC finally got a provisional order stopping all the arbitration proceedings in Cape Town until the dispute was finalised. The Zambian law firm Ranchhod and Chungu represented ZMDC in that country.
Mr Farai Mutamangira of Mutamangira and Associates assisted by Mr Jacob Mutevedzi represented ZMDC.
Mr Mutevedzi welcomed the ruling by the High Court of Zambia stopping the proceedings until the matter was finalised.
“The ruling patently exposed the ICA as an EU institution, which is biased against Zimbabwe,” he said.
Mr Mutevedzi also said the ZMDC decision to nullify the MoU was justified because there was evidence the signing of the agreements was motivated by corruption. He said that the then ZMDC general manager Mr Dominic Mubaiwa who signed both MoUs had received gifts from Amari. Amari, he said, bought Mr Mubaiwa tiles for his upmarket house in Philadelphia, Borrowdale while his children were showered with gifts.
“There was clear evidence that Mubaiwa had been prejudiced. Amari had bought expensive tiles for a house, which Mr Mubaiwa was building in Philadelphia. He also bought gifts for Mubaiwa’s children,” Mr Mutevedzi said.