Former Finance bank chairman, Rajani Mahtani has been sued by his former legal counsel, Zahedah Essah.
Ms. Essah, who is also former legal counsel for Mahtani group of companies and finance bank, has also sued the Post Newspapers and two of its journalists.
Ms. Essah is suing for defamation of character over an article published in the post newspaper, January 28 2011 edition, titled DEC arrests, charges Mahtani with forgery.
In her statement of claim filed in the high court, Ms. Essah claims that the four jointly caused to be published the said article, which contained defamatory words, which have caused immense damage to her reputation and considerable distress to her and her family.
Ms. Essah claims that the article, alleging that she was offered immunity from prosecution, was false and was published with malice.
She says she was not pressurized or threatened or under duress when she signed an affidavit against Dr. Mahtani.
Ms. Essah, however, says she voluntarily went to the authorities to tell them the truth of the happenings in the Mahtani group of companies, finance bank and the wrong doings of Dr. Mahtani before November and December 2010.
She also claimed that all the anonymous sources quoted in the story attributed to Dr. Mahtani, are in fact Dr Mahtani himelf as it is he who drafted the initial story and he caused the two post Newspapers journalists, Chibabula Silwamba and Mwala Kalaluka, to use their bylines on the said article.
Ms. Essah has also explained that the post newspapers and the two journalists never bothered to verify the story or get her side of the story.
She is since claiming damages and an unqualified withdrawal of the allegations leveled against her.
[ MUVI ]
It never rains but it pours for Mr. Mahtani. And as for the Post, don’t they ever try to verify stories with the subjects – these chaps have gone to the gutter.
# 1, nawina lelo
And the truth shall set you free…..# 1 wa lasa….the post loves to be sensational…..
Lelo lelo, Mathani’s days have reached the book of revelations. You cannot be a clever and a half all the time.
Things fall apart. No wonder the Post struggles to pay salaries. They have to pay damages to many people on whom they tell lies about. I think the Post knows they are on the verge of collapse financially and hence are looking for soemone to put the blame instead of insolvency. All their hope is based on the unlikely event that Sata wins the elections to rescue them illegally. They placed a panick button when BOZ tookover FBZ because without Mahtani, the debt at the bank becomes payable on demand and they have no capacity to pay. Result=receivership and may be liquidation.
Its always nice when what happens around closed doors comes to the open. Iam sure though that this Ms Essah revealed things to save her skin. In the Mafia world she would be swimming with the fishes. This is like the story of the book keeper revealing it all.
Mmembe’s toilet tissue has really gone to the dogs.Its no doubt that whatever he publishes has an ounce of self interest.The support of Rajan in all this has everything to do with the K36 Billion overdraft Mmembe’s tissue has with FBZ.
We need a ‘hostile takeover’ at the Post to save the many jobs mmembe is playing with.The K36 Billion debt should be turned into shares in this paper by GRZ and thus take them over.
And the issue of ethics???? So not even a lawyer should be trusted with my tight info. Yaba Ziko
Those of who you think the POST will or is about to go under keep dreaming.The POST survived KK,secondly u are free to hate Mmembe but the truth is that hes a rare Zambian-of course he is not perfect.
Very glad this matter is now in court. The DEC and other agencies of Government will have to justify the harassment, threats, malicious prosecution and false imprisonment to extort a lawyer to a point of fabricating information, making allegations, on agreeing to be a state witness in exchange for immunity from prosecution, withdrawal of complaint from the Law Association of Zambia and the release of the lawyer’s passport in addition to substantial cash payments. The revelations will prove that the exchange was negotiated by Hon. Sakwiba Sikota, S.C. who has connived with his clients Mohamed Salama (Flame Promotions and Procurements), Odysseas Mandenakis (Odys Works and Hotellier) and the Ventriglias (Zambezi Portland Cement Limited) whilst being agent for DEC, Bank of Zambia and using…
#6, and am sure it wud hav bin comminion and never confirmation.
the 36billion has to be paid back, nothing political as it was a private business arrangment.and more so that a chunk of it could be depositor’s money. BOZ did well to come in and organise things at FBZ, had they not depositors would have lost out and govt would have been condemned by the very people who preach about good business ethics and corruption free…. sad indeed
#6objective indeed you are always very objective. the post life is hanging by the thread they now run the paper without profit. it has now become a proaganda tool for its own economical survival. membe threw ethics to the winds and went in alliance with his sworn enemy just to get debt redemption. the post days are numbered and i feel sori for mindolo products like malupenga were will he go he has no papers. membe you can run but cannot hide forever in insults your time is up. mathani is a criminal who has to pay for his money laundering crimes. 36 billion for a small newspaper is criminal
#13 lady gaga you are full of inconsitencies.At first you said malupenga did evening classes at hone together with Mwamba,now you are saying he is a mindolo product.which is which?How about your MMD cadres at daily mail pretending to be journalists.Are they not mindolo products?
#10, Even Mahtani survived KK but not the law. Lets not rush to hatred for Mmembe but the works. The law should not know individuals but the criminal acts committed. That is why the accused are referred to as codes such as A1 or A2 in the courts so that judgment is not based on what we feel about the individuals but the crime committed. The Post can survive for as long as they make good of their debt. Otherwise i personally wish them well for as long as they are doing straight deals and not dirt transactions. Why should i be proud of a firm that pay no taxes but is in the forefront crying for windfall tax? Why should i be proud of a firm that encourages citizens to rise against a bank that pays tax just in order to run away from their debt with that bank? Why should i be proud of a firm…
No surprises here! It says a lot when your own legal counsel (most trusted confidant) abandons you and sues thereafter. Rajan has always been a crooked, shrewd and manipulative predatory lender (i.e loan shark) who built an impressive business empire off the back of political patronage and back door dealings. He assumed Zambian politicians/ people were so daft and he’d carry on with his nonsense in perpetuity but unfortunately “what goes up MUST come down”. What’s more worrying is that late Levy (Mr squeaky Clean) was actually in bed with this crook in exchange for generous donations to the MMD! I can understand his dealings with FJT kafupi because they’re both lazo’s but in Levy’s case, it was hypocrisy of the worst kind. This white collar crook needs to spend 10yrs+ in…
Deja V……………..What is your comment???
Mmmmmm madam Essah, You were legal counsel for Mahtani group of companies and finance bank and abated whatever crimes that took place up to Nov-Dec 2010, so that you are presumed innocent.
No madam, You were part of the mess which you should have reported the moment you saw anything wrong or should have stopped the wrongs in your capacity as legal counsel. Now you want to show the world that you are clean when in fact not. Mmmmm zoona madam, in law this is what is called joint enterprise and you cannot run away at the last minute when you see that nkani ya lula.
One wonders what is happening to the legal profession in Zambia as lawyers have been in the media on all the wrong things including crime.
Zaheeda Essa, what happened to loyalty. You have along been eating with Mahtani, infact to the extent that Mrs. Bina Mahtani detested your closeness to her husband. Too bad for Mahtani, all the loyalists like Noel Nkoma have jumped ship and abandoned him.The Zambezi Portland Cement forged share certificate has all your marks on it. “She has provided investigative wings with hundreds of documents including electronic files chronicling misdeeds and the illegal activities of Mahtani and his associates”.Zaheeda, you have been an accomplice in all these alleged illegal activities of Mahtani, it is actually correct to believe that Essa had involuntarily told authorities the about the misdeeds in the Mahtani Group of Companies and FBZ and Mahtani’s wrongdoings in exchange of some immunity.
This country fails to go forward because we always look at issues through partsan glasses. The Mahthani issue is national and deserves seriuosness. What we learn today is that our secrets are not safe even in the hands our lawyers henceforth we just need to be upright and honest citizens. What is attributed to the relationship between the Post and Mahtani might be true but we opt to be partisan. There was a web between state house, Finance Bank, Zambian Airways and The Post and these are things that are being revealed. As regards Essa turning into state witness, these are things that even the most developed world does.