Sun Pharmaceuticals Limited has protested the detention of its director, Mr. Uddit Sadhu, in Dubai after an Interpol Red Corner Notice requested by the Zambia Police. The company, operating in Zambia since 1978, says the move is malicious and undermines due process. It links the action to a long-running legal dispute over a multimillion-dollar judgment debt, which courts in Zambia have consistently ruled in its favour. Despite repeated victories, the directors allege harassment, including abductions and forced attempts to cede shareholding. The firm has vowed to contest the notice and has informed the Indian High Commission. Below is the Full Press statement

PRESS STATEMENT BY SUN PHARMACEUTICALS ON THE DETENTION OF ONE OF THE DIRECTORS, IN DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATE, AN ABUSE OF DUE PROCESS BY THE ZAMBIA POLICE

SUNDAY 31ST AUGUST 2025
We are Indian nationals resident in Zambia since 1978, ordinarily residing at Plot Number 10968, Lunsemfwa Road in Lusaka, Zambia.

We are shareholders and Directors in Sun Pharmaceuticals Limited, a Zambian company registered and operating in the country.

We wish to confirm that one of the directors of the company , Mr. Uddit Sadhu has been detained in Dubai following an Interpol Red Corner Notice that has been issued by the Zambia Police in Zambia.

We have been alarmed by this action as it amounts to an abuse of due process.

This Notice has been issued with clear and utter malice to deliberately dent the name of the directors.

At the heart of this dispute is a judgment debt worth millions of dollars successfully litigated and won by Sun Pharmaceutical in the courts of law in Zambia.

Recently there have been repeated attempts to deprive the company and its shareholders access to this legitimate compensation.

It must also be noted, as recorded by the case in the Lusaka High Court, the two Directors Vinod and Uddit Sadhu, who were abducted on 29th September 2022, held at undesignated facility for hours and later transferred to Chelston Police Station, have sued the State and Police Officers for this unjustified kidnapping and inhuman treatment.

During this scary ordeal, attempts were made to force them sign and surrender their shareholding in Sun Pharmaceuticals company.

The Directors have since sued the persons identified and involved in this abduction in the Lusaka High Court (witness statements attached hereto) (Case no. 2023/HP/2001).

The allegations that form part of this complaint and brought by the family of the estate of Mr. John Kalenga have no merit and they have been dismissed – as demonstrated by numerous judgments won by the shareholders.

These findings and facts have been thoroughly established in the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

The Sadhus have single-handed pursued the case they made of making overpayment of the loan and interests to the Development Bank of Zambia obtained earlier by the previous owners that failed to settle the loan and faced both seizure of equipment, permanent security provided and threat to the viability of the company.

Further allegations that the shareholders fraudulently changed the shareholding structure of Sun Pharmaceutical Zambia to deprive the late Mr. John Kalenga of co-ownership have been dismissed repeatedly by the courts-of-law and law enforcement agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Commission and the Anti-Corruption Commission.

Even institutions such as the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) have come to the same conclusion in a matter that brought before the Legal Practitioners Committee by the Kalengas against our previous lawyers, George Kunda &Company.
It must be stated that when the Directors finally won the case against DBZ, they secured the title deeds of Stand No 6888, Freedom Way, offered as security against the loan and were gracious, not to retain as part of the assets, but to hand back this to the Kalenga family estate in 2012.

Further, it must be emphasized that the Kalengas have repeatedly lost the case in the court of law in which they have challenged the current shareholding structure in Sun pharmaceuticals.

Recently their have been further attempts to have the company illegally wound up and when that failed too, they have brought numerous other actions to try and place the company under business rescue which applications have failed too.

Recently we have learnt with concern that there is now purported arrest warrant that was allegedly issued in August 2022.

This was shocking as no warrant was shown or demonstrated the entire time the Sadhus were in the country.

We have since taken a second case seeking in the Lusaka High Court a Judicial Review ( case no. 2025/HP/0689).

It is clear that during the period of this dispute, the Kalengas, having failed to achieve what they want through the Courts of law, they have now employed the services of the Zambia police who in abuse of authority issued a warrant of arrest for the directors.

It is therefore an act of disgrace that some elements in the Zambia Police are being used to pursue false allegations that have been settled independently by the courts of law and by law enforcement agencies, and in this case to the extent of issuing Interpol warrant or notice.

This is a clear attempt to further intimidate us and impede the pursuit of justice in the upcoming abduction trial scheduled for September 2025 – where these rogue individuals face scrutiny of law.

As regards to the Interpol Red Corner Notice, a process has commenced to challenge its validity and demonstrate that it has been issued outside the law.

In light of the gravity of the matter, a complaint has been filed with the Indian High Commission in Zambia about this matter.

BRIEF BACKGROUND ON SUN PHARMACEUTICALS

Sun Pharmaceuticals began as Frank and Hirsch (Northern Rhodesia) Ltd in 1963. It was a sister company of a business in South Africa.

In 1974, a proposal was made to establish a production facility for writing pens, sunglasses and disposable medical syringes, but the policy of nationalization at the time dissuaded the owners to make such an investment.

They exited the business, selling it to a company in which local bottle store owner and politician, Late John Kalenga, had an interest.

On 25th February, 1982, the company signed a loan agreement of $670,000.00 to borrow from the Development Bank of Zambia (DBZ) to revive the disposable syringe project and factory. DBZ granted the loan with extremely favorable terms for a repayment of six years.
It took six years for the company to import the equipment which finally arrived in 1988.

Due to the failure to pay counterpart fees, the project failed. The imported factory equipment, in form of complete knock down equipment was held at Manica freight for a further three (3) years, where demurrage and storage fees were accumulated and the assets were damaged due to storage in the open air.

Further, Frank & Hirsch having failed to settle outstanding interest arrears and loan repayments, entered into a Consent Judgment with DBZ to pay K 4.8 million before 31st December 1990 and thereafter service loan repayment in installments of US $ 50,000 every quarter, which also they failed to honour.

It is at this stage that Mr. Vinod Sadhu, who had emigrated to Zambia in 1978, became aware of about the Frank and Hirsch manufacturing of disposable syringe project. Mr. Sadhu was an investor supplying the mines with mining equipment, special steel products and special tools. He also had interests in engineering and manufacturing sectors.

He met Mr. John Kalenga who expressed deep anxiety, as he was at the verge of losing the equipment and feared financial ruin.

Mr. Sadhu found the project viable as disposable syringes were in high demand as a result of the new HIV/AID pandemic and the health recommendations that directed that persons could not share or re-use the syringes.

Therefore in 1991, Mr. Vinod Sadhu, through his holding company, acquired a majority stake in Frank and Hirsh.

He immediately moved the company to the headquarters of the sister company, Sunvest Limited at Mpelembe House, Broadway Ndola.

He immediately cleared the outstanding payments to the Development Bank of Zambia.

He also paid for the backlog fees of demurrage charges and storage fees at Manica Freight and transported the equipment stored crates to his warehouse in Ndola Heavy Industrial area.

He further invested for the balancing equipment not purchased earlier and commissioned the project with the technical assistance of DEMAG of Germany, constructed a high-tech, fully sterilized plant and first class support infrastructure

He renamed the company from Frank and Hirsch to Sun Pharmaceuticals. This change aligned with the identity of other companies under the group.

Finally official opening of the new Sun Pharmaceutical plant took place in July 1994 and was graced by senior government officials led by the Minister of Health, Mr. Michael Chilufya Sata. Mr Sadhu further injected additional capital funds to expand the business. these actions rescued a project that failed to take off for nine years and rescued the company completely.

As recorded in the Judgement in the Ndola High Court (1995/HN/307) Mr. Sadhu was the new shareholder who took over Frank and Hirsch, invested in substantial capital resources and changed the name of the company. He further injected in a sum of $4 million to clear the balance of the equipment, to complete and commission the project.

Signed
Vinod Sadhu
Managing Director
Sun Pharmaceuticals Limited

Government says over 60 per cent of registered Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) operating in the country are based in Lusaka despite the capital city being the smallest area geographically in the country.

The Ministry of Community Development and Social Services (MCDSS) says the majority of the 2,500 registered NGOs operate in Lusaka with 80 operating in the Kabulonga area and practically targeting the same target groups.

Senior Standards Officer from the ministry’s Department of NGO Registration, Martin Kaonga, shared during a UNICEF sponsored media training in Kabwe that it is difficult to observe an exponential impact of the work of Lusaka based NGOs due to duplication of work and access to the same vulnerable target groups.

Mr Kaonga noted that rural areas have the highest number of disadvantaged and vulnerable households hence require more NGOs to reach them.

He told the journalists attending the workshop that there is more positive evidence of impact from the work of NGOs operating away from Lusaka, especially in rural areas.

“We have over 2,500 NGOs registered and operating in the country, and 60 per cent of the NGOs operate in Lusaka,” said Mr Kaonga.

He added that the government intends to roll out a Non-Governmental Organisation Registration Information Management (NGORIM) in order to mainstream registration and operation of NGOs in the country.

He said his department is mandated to register and track NGO operations and compliance with the law.

Mr Kaonga explained that the NGORIM has been developed as a centralised regulatory framework that will promote appropriate tracking of the operations of NGOs previously registered under Registrar of Societies, PACRA and other government agencies.

He acknowledged the need to direct NGOs to set up bases in areas with more disadvantaged people than Lusaka.

“We have seen a lot of development in rural areas, people being empowered by NGOS, livelihoods being improved. In Lusaka, some impact is there, but not as much as you would expect,” said Mr Kaonga

He stressed that the work of NGOs is cardinal in uplifting the lives of vulnerable groups and households in the country.

The media training was aimed at sharpening journalists’ ability and capacity to highlight social protection issues and highlight government intervention initiatives among vulnerable groups and households in the country.

The training, which attracted over 40 journalists representing about 30 media houses, was supported by UNICEF and cooperating donors among them Sweden, Ireland, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

Residents of Chavuma district in North-western province have urged the clergy, the traditional leadership and other stakeholders to address the slowly emerging gay practices in the district.

The community is concerned that these practices may undermine not only the district’s cultural and moral fabric but the nation’s morality at large.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with ZANIS, Mary Namuchana, a concerned mother of three, expressed worry about the future of her children if such practices became the new adopted lifestyle.

“We need to protect our children from the influences that may lead them astray, also there is need for the churches and our traditional leaders to emphasise the importance of preserving traditional values and norms that have been passed down through generations and also preach the true word of God by discouraging same sex marriages or relationships,” Ms Namuchana said.

And Telephinia Chilufya, revealed that the emerging gay practices may erode the district’s cultural and moral values.

“Our culture is our identity and we must protect it, we cannot allow external influences to undermine our values and traditions,” she said.

Ms Chilufya noted that even though she was not born and bred in Chavuma, she has stayed there long enough to see that young people in the area are slowly being influenced by social media.

“If you patrol bars and markets in the evenings, you will find some culprits are slowly luring the young generations to make them believe it is the new normal and some are educated people sent to work here to develop the district but are now convincing the locals otherwise,’’ she explained.

The community is engaging in open discussions about the issue with some residents calling for greater awareness and understanding.

“We need to create a safe and inclusive environment for everyone, we must work together to find solutions that benefit everyone, so it should start from churches, community meetings, traditional leaders and stakeholders in various communities,” said a Bread of Life Church member, Catherine Banda.

The residents of Chavuma district are determined to address the emerging gay practices in a way that is respectful and inclusive.

Mpulungu District in Northern Province is set to benefit from the Supporting Women’s Livelihood (SWL) programme, with 793 women expected to be enrolled this year.

The Department of Community Development has already commenced the selection process of potential beneficiaries who will receive productivity grants aimed at boosting small businesses.

Mpulungu District Community Development Assistant Officer, Doreen Chilufya, said during a self-registration exercise in Mungula Village that the initiative is designed to promote sustainability rather than dependency.

“We have started the selection process of potential women to be added to the Supporting Women’s Livelihoods initiative. We have been given a total number of 793 women to be added this year,” Ms. Chilufya said.

She stressed that the grants are not handouts but intended to be invested into income-generating activities. “We do not give money for consumption; this money is supposed to be multiplied so that women can sustain their livelihoods,” she explained.

Meanwhile, Mpulungu Member of Parliament, Leonard Mbao, encouraged potential beneficiaries to take advantage of social protection programmes being rolled out by government.

“The government remains resolute in addressing poverty through initiatives like Supporting Women’s Livelihoods and the Social Cash Transfer,” Mr. Mbao said. He urged the women to use the funds wisely to build decent and sustainable lives.

Mpulungu District Administrative Officer, George Chibuye, also appealed to selected beneficiaries to put the money to proper use by investing in viable businesses that can lift them out of poverty.

The SWL programme is part of government’s broader social protection strategy, targeting vulnerable households and promoting economic empowerment among women.