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Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Reporter
JUSTICE, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi has once again issued a reconstruction order in relation to Hwange Colliery Company Limited and appointed chief operating officer of Great Dyke Investments, Mr Munashe Shava, to be its administrator under reconstruction.

The reconstruction order, done in terms of Section 4 of the Reconstruction of State-Indebted Insolvent Companies Act (No. 27 of 2004, is contained in the Government Gazette under General Notice 1794A of 2022.

Minister Ziyambi said Ms Mutsa Mollie Jean Remba, a Partner at Dube, Manikai and Hwacha Legal Practitioners will be the assistant administrator of Hwange Colliery Company Limited working under Mr Shava’s control and direction.

“From the date of publication of this order, the company under reconstruction shall be under the control and management of the administrator and the boards of the companies under reconstruction shall be divested of the control and management of the companies’ affairs,” he said.

“Any person managing or controlling the companies’ affairs in any capacity other than simply as a member of the board referred above shall continue in the office subject to the control and direction of, and be answerable to the administrator.”

Minister Ziyambi said the administrator has the power, subject to the rights of the creditors of the companies, to raise money in any  way without the authority of the shareholders  for the purpose of reconstruction of the companies.

Minister Ziyambi also intends to make an application to the High Court seeking an order confirming the reconstruction order, which he issued on August 5, 2022, in relation to Hwange Colliery Company Limited

“The Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs hereby in terms of section 8(1) of the Reconstruction of State Indebted Insolvent Companies Act [Chapter 24:27] (No. 27 of 2004) issues reconstruction order in relation to Hwange Colliery Company Limited, that he intends to make an application to a judge of the High Court of Zimbabwe, at Harare, in chambers, seeking an order confirming the reconstruction order,” he said.

Last year, Minister Ziyambi’s bid to put Hwange Colliery Company Limited under reconstruction hit a snag after the High Court dismissed the move.

In a judgment, the High Court disapproved Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi’s decision to create a “potentially unwholesome situation for Hwange”.

The judgment came after the minister had applied for High Court confirmation of his reconstruction order issued under the Reconstruction of State Indebted Insolvent Companies Act in October 2018.

However, the motion was contested by the expelled Hwange board, trustees and shareholders that had agreed on a viable scheme of arrangement.

They argued that Minister Ziyambi abused his powers in issuing out the order and could not unfasten a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement, which Hwange concluded with its creditors, including the State.

Dismissing Minister Ziyambi’s application, Justice David Mangota ruled that the order, which the minister issued 17 months into the scheme of arrangement, clearly violated Section 2 (a) of the Act.

The judge said Minister Ziyambi failed to justify his move given that a scheme of arrangement, which was ratified by Government and other shareholders with a view to salvaging the coal mining company from collapse, was still operational.

Minister Ziyambi had approached the High Court without consulting other shareholders, arguing that the problems affecting Hwange Colliery Company Limited needed swift action to avert possible liquidation.

In 2018, Minister Ziyambi told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines chaired by Norton MP Temba Mliswa that the company owed the Government US$150 million, and had posted US$23 million loss in the half year to June of the same year.

He then said as Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, the law empowered him to put any company under reconstruction without consulting other shareholders if necessary.

However, his move was opposed by a trustee of the debenture holders of Hwange and chairman of the court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement, Andrew Lawson and a legal entity called Messina Investments.

The Government holds a 52 percent stake in the entity, whose debt obligations stood at US$333 million owed to various creditors as at December 31, 2016. – @mashnets.