Former Big Brother Africa star Munya Chidzonga sues medical company directors

Award winning actor, film-maker and former Big Brother Africa star and entrepreneur Munya Chidzonga has approached the High Court suing directors of a medical firm, Ivory Medical, for allegedly removing him from the directorship of the company through fraudulent means.

The company Ivory Medical (Pvt) Ltd was issued a license to cultivate, package and export Medicinal Cannabis. The license was issued by MCAZ through the Ministry Of Health And Child Care. The original Directors were Munya Chidzonga, Elizabeth Sekai Bakasa, Nathan Kalumbu, Gilbert Chahwanda and Graeme Loxton.

This development allegedly comes after they and the Entrepreneur had managed to successfully apply for a medicinal cannabis growing licence from the government of Zimbabwe in 2019 with Chidzonga cited as one of the directors together with Elizabeth Sekai Bakasa and listed as the responsible person in charge and the authorised person in charge for cultivation of cannabis for research and scientific purposes at Chiredzi Prison Farm before being ousted.

Chidzonga together with Bakasa are applying for a declaratur to have the processes declared null and void, citing other directors, Former President of Coca Cola Africa and Eurasia operations Nathan Kalumbu, Kalumbu is also the Majority Shareholder of Punch Bowel ( Squish Squash, Bint Petroleum Jelly) and NAC (National Aids Council ) Board Member, Businessman and Traditional Medicine Practitioner and member of TMPZ (Traditional Medicine Practitioners Association of Zimbabwe) Gilbert Chahwanda as respondents together with the registrar of companies, the health minister, permanent secretary in the ministry and the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe.

Claims are that Kalumbu and Chahwanda went behind the two’s back and removed them from the directorship of the company before they approached the government with amended company documents which ousted Chidzonga and Bakasa and obtained an amended cannabis growing licence and moving the project from Chiredzi Prison Farm to Kalumbu’s farm in Headlands.

Chidzonga and Bakasa through their lawyer Admire Rubaya said they never resigned from the company meaning the documents used to obtain an amended licence were fraudulent hence the licence should be declared null and void.

“The 1st and 2nd Respondents (Kalumbu and Chahwanda) in connivance with each other uttered the fraudulent CR14 dated the 20th of May 2020 to the 5th, 6th and 7th Respondent (health minister, secretary for health and the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe) resulting in the issuance of an amended licence dated the 21st of April 2020 which unlawfully removed the 2nd Applicant as the authorised person and myself as the responsible person,” he said.

“Whatever cultivation and production of cannabis being conducted at Kamando Farm in Headlands is illegal in that it is based on an amended licence obtained through fraudulent means by the 1st and 2nd respondent.

“The process of seeking an amendment of the 3rd respondent’s (Ivory Medical) licence was never a lawful process because it was on the basis of a fraudulent CR14 (now CR6) which deceived the Registrar of Companies that the 2nd applicant and I had resigned from our positions within the 3rd Respondent,” he said.

In their application, Chidzonga and Bakasa want the court to uphold Ivory Medical cannabis licence granted on April 17, 2019 bearing their names as the sole valid licence with which listed them as the responsible person in charge and the authorised person in charge for the company to cultivate and produce cannabis for medicinal and scientific use within Chiredzi Prison Farm.

The two through their lawyers want the amended licence issued to Ivory Medical on the April 21, 2020 with Kalumbu listed as the authorised person in charge and Chahwanda as the responsible person in charge be declared void ab initio

They also seek the court to declare the amended CR14 (now CR6) for Ivory Medical which showed them as having resigned from being directors on May 6, 2020 void ab initio and the one which shows them as directors be declared valid.

The respondents, if they intend to oppose the application, have 10 days to file their notice of opposition.