HARARE – High Court judge Justice Mushure has reserved judgement in the urgent chamber application filed by ZIMASCO (Pvt) Ltd to block a hostile takeover over by Kwekwe businessman Shepherd Tundiya’s company Avim Investments (Pvt) Ltd.
The takeover was being done through the allegedly “conflicted” corporate rescue practitioner Wilson Manase, by way of a court order issued against a different company.
The judge further directed the Master of the High Court to stay the corporate rescue process pending judgement. Manase did not attend the court hearing.
ZIMASCO contends that a court order, riddled with errors and procedural irregularities, was being misused by Avim to gain unauthorised access to its assets, prompting urgent legal action, formal complaints against legal professionals, and even diplomatic intervention from the Chinese embassy.
ZIMASCO further argued that the order, issued by Justice Joel Mambara, was erroneously directed at “Sinosteel Zimasco (Pvt) Ltd,” a non-existent and unregistered entity, a fact corroborated by company registry records.
On March 17th, Tundiya, alongside Manase and Denny Marandure, are alleged to have made an attempt to commandeer Zimasco’s Ecobank accounts.
Their method involved directing the bank to alter the account signatories to reflect their own names.
However, Ecobank declined to comply, asserting that the court order cited was inapplicable to ZIMASCO (Pvt) Ltd. Moreover, the order itself had been presented directly to the bank, bypassing ZIMASCO Pvt Ltd.
Undeterred by this setback, the same individuals reportedly proceeded to Zimasco’s head office, where they asserted their authority to assume management, relying on the same disputed court order.
ZIMASCO Pvt Ltd management stated that the order was against Sinosteel Zimasco (Pvt) Ltd, not ZIMASCO (Pvt) Ltd and rejected their actions.
Avim Investments, with the assistance of Kwande Legal Practitioners, later filed an application to “correct” the court order, to show that Sinosteel Zimasco (Pvt) Ltd was operating as ZIMASCO (Pvt) Ltd.
The application was heard by Justice Mambara, who granted the order without allegedly serving it on ZIMASCO (Pvt) Ltd, an interested party, company sources said.
The company said it was never notified, even though it was an affected party.
Neither ZIMASCO nor Ecobank were served.
Armed with the modified court order, Manase and his associates renewed their attempt to gain control of ZIMASCO’s accounts. Ecobank again refused to comply, maintaining that the corporate rescue order applied to Sinosteel Zimasco (Pvt) Ltd, not ZIMASCO (Pvt).
In response, ZIMASCO (Pvt) Ltd has urgently filed a High Court application to block the court order.
The company has also lodged formal complaints with the Judicial Service Commission regarding Justice Mambara’s handling of the matter and with the Law Society of Zimbabwe against Manase and Manase and Kwande Legal Practitioners for alleged unethical conduct.
Insiders say the Chinese embassy in Harare has expressed strong concern over the attempt to seize control of ZIMASCO (Pvt) Ltd, a key Chinese government investment.
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