Zimasco has sent letters to legal authorities about two Harare lawyers plus a High Court judge. The company believes these people helped businessman Shepherd Tundiya try to steal control of their mining business. CEO John Musekiwa wrote on March 26 that these court officials acted unethically, making the legal system look bad.
A recent High Court order let Avim Investments take over the big mining company. Judge Joel Mambara made this ruling, but people noticed something fishy - the order targeted "Sinosteel Zimasco," not the actual company "Zimasco." A search through company records proved these were different businesses.
The mining company complained that despite this clear mistake, Tundiya teamed up with lawyer Wilson Manase and businessman Denny Marandure. They tried to grab control of Zimasco bank accounts at Ecobank on March 17, 2025. They asked the bank to change who could sign for money. The bank refused because the court paper did not name the right company.
These men then showed up at Zimasco headquarters, claiming they had the right to run the place. Management explained that the court order named a different company. Avim Investments then asked another lawyer, Valentine Kwande, to "fix" the court order. They wanted it changed to say Sinosteel Zimasco operated as Zimasco.
Judge Mambara approved this change without telling Zimasco about the hearing. Armed with this updated paper, Manase tried again to take control of the money. Ecobank still refused, saying the rescue order applied to the wrong company. This standoff pushed Zimasco to file an emergency request to block the takeover.
The mining firm also directly complained about the judge and both lawyers. Their letter said changing a court order requires proper notice to everyone affected. They pointed out that this rushed application wasn't really fixing an error—it tried to add a new party who wasn't part of the first order.
Zimasco claimed nobody tried to serve them papers, which seemed like an attempt to cheat them out of defending themselves. The application went to the same judge who made the first mistake. He approved it extremely fast - within three hours of filing. The company found this suspicious compared to how long their emergency request took.
The mining company has filed complaints against the judge and plans criminal complaints against everyone involved. When Manase tried again with the "fixed" order, Ecobank still refused access. Zimasco called the lawyers' actions criminal and dishonorable. Their Chinese parent company has raised diplomatic concerns about what happened. Zimasco wants the Law Society to investigate everyone involved.
A recent High Court order let Avim Investments take over the big mining company. Judge Joel Mambara made this ruling, but people noticed something fishy - the order targeted "Sinosteel Zimasco," not the actual company "Zimasco." A search through company records proved these were different businesses.
The mining company complained that despite this clear mistake, Tundiya teamed up with lawyer Wilson Manase and businessman Denny Marandure. They tried to grab control of Zimasco bank accounts at Ecobank on March 17, 2025. They asked the bank to change who could sign for money. The bank refused because the court paper did not name the right company.
These men then showed up at Zimasco headquarters, claiming they had the right to run the place. Management explained that the court order named a different company. Avim Investments then asked another lawyer, Valentine Kwande, to "fix" the court order. They wanted it changed to say Sinosteel Zimasco operated as Zimasco.
Judge Mambara approved this change without telling Zimasco about the hearing. Armed with this updated paper, Manase tried again to take control of the money. Ecobank still refused, saying the rescue order applied to the wrong company. This standoff pushed Zimasco to file an emergency request to block the takeover.
The mining firm also directly complained about the judge and both lawyers. Their letter said changing a court order requires proper notice to everyone affected. They pointed out that this rushed application wasn't really fixing an error—it tried to add a new party who wasn't part of the first order.
Zimasco claimed nobody tried to serve them papers, which seemed like an attempt to cheat them out of defending themselves. The application went to the same judge who made the first mistake. He approved it extremely fast - within three hours of filing. The company found this suspicious compared to how long their emergency request took.
The mining company has filed complaints against the judge and plans criminal complaints against everyone involved. When Manase tried again with the "fixed" order, Ecobank still refused access. Zimasco called the lawyers' actions criminal and dishonorable. Their Chinese parent company has raised diplomatic concerns about what happened. Zimasco wants the Law Society to investigate everyone involved.
