HARARE – Zimasco (Pvt) Ltd has written to the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) and the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) complaining about the conduct of Harare lawyers Wilson Manase and Valentine Kwande as well as High Court judge Joel Mambara for allegedly aiding an unlawful bid to take over the company by businessman Shepherd Tundiya’s Avim Investments.

In a letter dated March 26, Zimasco, through its CEO, John Musekiwa, said there were several instances of unethical conduct by the court officials, something which brought the legal system into disrepute.

This following a recent order by the High Court granting Avim lnvestments the right to take over the prominent mining and chromite ore smelting company.

The order was issued by Justice Mambara but there were claims the ruling was not directed at Zimasco but a completely unrelated and non-registered entity, Sinosteel Zimasco, as confirmed by a company registry search.

Zimasco complained that despite the discrepancy, mentioned above, Tundiya, in collaboration with Manase and businessman Denny Marandure, allegedly attempted to gain control of Zimasco’s bank accounts at Ecobank by instructing the bank to alter the account signatories in their favour on March 17, 2025.

The bank however declined to comply, asserting that the court order did not pertain to Zimasco.

In addition, the order had not been served on Zimasco but was instead presented directly to the bank.

Following the failed attempt at the bank, the individuals visited Zimasco head office, claiming authority to take over the company’s management under the purported court order.

According to Zimasco management, the order was against Sinosteel Zimasco, not their company.

Avim Investments, then sought assistance of Kwande, a lawyer from Kwande Legal Practitioners who filed an application to “correct” the court order, to show that Sinosteel Zimasco (Pvt) Ltd was operating as Zimasco.

This application was heard by Justice Mambara, who granted the order.

The company said it was never notified, even though it was an affected party.

Zimasco and Ecobank were also served.

Armed with the modified court order, Manase and his associates renewed their attempt to gain control of Zimasco’s accounts.

Ecobank refused to comply, maintaining that the corporate rescue order applied to Sinosteel Zimasco and not Zimasco Pvt Ltd.

The standoff resulted in the company filing an urgent chamber application to stop the takeover.

Zimasco also lodged formal complaints with Mambara and the two lawyers for alleged unethical conduct.

In the letter, Zimasco said that in terms of the rules of court, an application to correct an order can only be made as a court application and that it must be made on notice to all affected parties.

“Further, a look at the order sought in this hastily prepared application shows that it is not an application to correct an order but an application to introduce a new party who was not part of the previous order.

“No attempt was made to serve this new party which in the context of this matter is obviously an attempt to defraud us and ensure that we do not have the chance to oppose the patently defective process.

“Regardless of such non-service, the application was referred to Mambara who had granted the first defective order at the insistence of the lawyer Valentine Kwande. It was considered by the Honourable Judge, and granted by 17.19 PM on the same day it was filed, barely three hours post filing,” Musekiwa said.

Zimasco said the speed was astounding because “this chamber application was filed, allocated, read and considered by the judge, granted by him and an order issued in three hours and yet an urgent chamber application which we filed to stay the first order on the 20th March 2025 (we did not know of this second application or order at this stage) has only been set down for the 24th March 2025.”

The company said the ordinary chamber application was more effectively and expeditiously dealt with even than any urgent chamber application could be and yet it was not even an urgent application.

“For these and other anomalies, we have filed a complaint against the judge and are preparing a criminal complaint against all parties concerned including the lawyers, their client and judge.

“Armed with the ‘corrected’ order, Mr. Manase again attempted a raid on Ecobank who again refused to give him access to the accounts as this second order was even more defective and meaningless than the first.

“The actions of the lawyers are deplorable, criminal, and dishonourable. They are unethical and bring the entire justice delivery system into disrepute. In fact, our principal shareholder is a Chinese company who has raised a diplomatic complaint over the actions in question,” said Musekiwa.

The company wants the LSZ to investigate the case.