Employees of the Zambezi Portland Cement (ZPC) happily celebrated the return today of the original owners of the plant, Antonio Ventriglia and Manuela Sebastiani, who have announced that operations at the company shall revert to the status quo following a prolonged period under unlawful management, according to a press conference aired on Muvi TV this evening.
According to Muvi TV, when the Ventriglias arrived to the main gates of the Ndola-based cement plant this morning at 7AM, they were welcomed onto the premises without any resistance or conflict, and re-assumed management of the company without incident.
Earlier reports of armed guards and hired police officers at the plant had raised concerns over the ownership struggle, however the employees and engineers running the plant were happy to see the owners return.
Speaking during the press conference, company Managing Director Daniele Ventriglia said that ZPC would honour its commitments, and that everyone among the current staff would keep their jobs.
The company owners also said they were very happy to have the opportunity to correct the longstanding injustice of the theft of their company, and said that they would continue to vigorously assert their rights to ownership, according to the Muvi TV report.
Lusaka lawyer Sakwiba Sikota, who was also present at the ZPC plant this morning, confirmed that the resumption of operational control of the plant occurred peacefully and smoothly.
Almost two and a half years ago, control of ZPC was allegedly stolen by the local financier Rajan Mahtani following the unusual deportation of the company’s original owners and managing directors. Following these deportations, on December 3, 2012, Mahtani convened an unlawful board meeting whereupon he appointed new management to the company, effectively seizing control of all its finances.
However the tables turned on Mr. Mahtani this past March when the High Court ruled to reverse the deportation orders and reinstate the residency permits to the ZPC company directors. The owners of the company have declared the board meeting of December 3, 2012 to be null and void, returning the company to the status quo legal status pending the convening of the next shareholder meeting.
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