HARARE – Zimasco (Pvt) Ltd has secured a relief order against lawyer Wilson Manase who has imposed himself as the firm’s Corporate Rescue practitioner in a major step to the company’s bid to fight off attempted seizure by businessman Shephard Tundiya and his Avim Investments (Pvt) Ltd.

High Court judge Faith Mushure granted the company an interdict barring Manase from holding himself out as the company’s corporate rescue practitioner in a judgement handed down on Monday.

The decision also comes at a time the company has written to the Law Society of Zimbabwe complaining over unethical conduct by the lawyer and another legal practitioner Valentine Kwande.

“This decision marks a major victory for Zimasco (Pvt) Ltd, whose management expressed surprise over how Wilson Manase attempted to position himself as the corporate rescue practitioner for Zimasco (Pvt) Ltd while using a court order against Sinosteel Zimasco (Pvt) Ltd, a company with no ties or relationship to Zimasco (Pvt) Ltd,” said Zimasco in a statement following the victory.

Officials deny Zimasco is in financial distress and that Avim Investments (Pvt) Ltd, the company behind the attempted seizure, is its creditor.

“The documents used by Shephard Tundiya’s company, Avim Investments (Pvt) Ltd to obtain a court order against Sinosteel Zimasco (Pvt) Ltd have no bearing on Zimasco (Pvt) Ltd,” a company official said.

In the latest ruling, the High Court granted the interdict pending the return day where Zimasco’s application for a declaration that it is not Zimasco Sinosteel (Pvt) Ltd or in the alternative rescission of the court order on the basis that it was never served on it and it has a sustainable defence on the merits.

Zimasco is one of Zimbabwe’s leading ferrochrome producers with a rich history and strong presence in the country’s mining sector.

The company is up in arms with Manase and High Court judge Joel Mambara following a recent order granting Avim lnvestments the right to take over the prominent mining and chromite ore smelting company.

Mambara issued the order which officials argue was not directed at Zimasco but a completely unrelated and non-registered entity, Sinosteel Zimasco (Pvt) Ltd, according to a company registry search.

Zimasco has also written a letter of complaint against the judge saying that despite the discrepancy as mentioned above, Tundiya, in cahoots with Manase and businessman Denny Marandure, attempted to gain control of its bank accounts at Ecobank by instructing the financial institution 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 concern 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’s 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 (Pvt) Ltd.

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 (Pvt) Ltd.

The 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 (Pvt) Ltd instead.

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