HOME Affairs minister Kembo Mohadi and his associates yesterday suffered a big blow after the court released the liquidator of a Beitbridge company, Nerry investments, they wanted to grab after accusing her of liquidating the company without calling for meetings with directors and shareholders, allegedly in contravention of the Companies Act.
Richard Muponde/ SILAS NKALA
Stung by the loss of Beitdridge companies, Red Queen, whose liquidator Barbra Lunga has already sold to AfriOil Petroleum, Mohadi and his associates changed tactics and tried to turn the civil matter into a criminal one.
They are accusing Lunga of liquidating Nerry Investments without calling for meetings despite the fact that there was a dispute in the directorship of the company, which case is still pending at the High Court (case number HC68/12).
Lunga initially appeared in court on Friday and was remanded to yesterday for a ruling in her application for refusal of remand, which Bulawayo magistrate Sibongile Msipa Marondedze granted.
Msipa Marondedze ruled that Lunga could not have called meetings with directors whom she did not know since there was a pending dispute in a higher court about Nerry Investment directors.
“In the premises, the application for refusal of remand is hereby granted,” the magistrate ruled.
“The outcome of the case HC68/12 determines who she will call for the meeting in the future as it determines who the shareholders and some of the directors are.”
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Mohadi’s associate, Josias John Moyo, had been lined up as a key witness. In September 2012, High Court judge Justice Lawrence Kamocha found that Mohadi had turned Nerry Investments into a “piggy bank” for personal use.
The minister and his associates were ordered to refund the company over $340 000, which they reportedly externalised into South Africa and paid for his son, Campbell Junior’s pilot lessons in the neighbouring country.
Meanwhile, a team of Criminal Investigations Department officers from Harare has been dispatched to investigate perjury allegations against Beitbridge businessman Reginald Dawson, who is accused of writing falsehoods in affidavits he filed at the courts sometime in 2012.
Dawson is involved in a business and property wrangle with Mohadi, who has accused the businessman of lying in his affidavit.
In the affidavit, Dawson said stand number 1418 in Beitbridge belonged to his company, Red Queen Trading (Pvt) Ltd, yet Mohadi insists it belonged to Nerry Investments and that stand number 1419 belonged to the same company when it belonged to Spoornet (Pvt) Ltd.
Mohadi reportedly claims Dawson stated that in his affidavit, while applying for the liquidation of Red Queen Trading (Pvt) Ltd.
He says all these were false claims and the businessman had to face criminal charges.
Dawson’s lawyer, Welshman Ncube, on Sunday confirmed that a team of detectives met him and his client on Thursday, where they accused the businessman of perjury.
He said according to all the documentation that his client has, all was above board and they showed the detectives all the documents, which proved he had not lied in his affidavits.
Ncube said it was sad that someone would claim that his client made false affidavits about the stands when even the Beitbridge council who are custodians of the land, wrote indicating that Dawson had been granted the stands.
“We went to the police on Thursday and we showed them all the documentation, but they seemed to be insisting that they wanted to take him to the Magistrates’ Court on Friday,” he said.
“On Friday we met senior prosecutor (Shepherd) Pedzisayi, whom we told the charges were irrational.
“How can you say someone has committed a crime when in fact, what you accuse him of was even confirmed by the council, which stated that he was granted the stands under the names of Red Queen?”
Ncube said Pedzisayi asked them if they had shown the documents to the police and they told him they did, but the officers insisted on having Dawson prosecuted.
“The senior prosecutor then told us to go and discuss how we were going to go about with the case,” he said.
“He was expected to appear in court too and we waited until 1pm, when we were later told to go, on condition that the matter proceeds by summons.”
Mohadi recently appeared in person at the Bulawayo High Court over the threats.
He allegedly stormed into Beitbridge Police Station, where he threatened to kill an employee who had been tasked with conducting an asset assessment of liquidated fuel company, Red Queen Trading (Pvt) Ltd.
The parties appeared before judge Justice Martin Makonese in chambers.
Red Queens liquidator, Lunga, had already filed an application seeking an order barring Mohadi from interfering with her duties.
Mohadi has allegedly been trying to grab the property from Dawson, who set up the enterprise together with his wife Jane.
Dawson was subsequently forced to liquidate the company together with two others — Spoornet (Pvt) Ltd and Nerry Investments — because of Mohadi’s constant threats.
Recently a director at AfricOil Petroleum, Never Ndlovu, said he was keen to engage Mohadi to iron out any differences or misconceptions that he might have.
Ndlovu said Mohadi’s threats to evict the firm from premises they legally acquired were unfortunate and unwarranted.
However, Mohadi has insisted that the property belonged to him.
Recently, he reportedly grabbed a security guard, Trust Nhliziyo, by the collar and ordered him to abandon the disputed premises, stand number 1418 and 1419 in Beitbridge.
In an affidavit tendered to the High Court in Bulawayo, Nhliziyo said Mohadi had harassed him.
