Businessman Farai Matsika suffered another blow after the Supreme Court threw out his application where he sought to snatch a 30% Croco Motors’ stake from his cousin Moses Chingwena.
Matsika sought condonation of late appeal, postponement, a larger appeal bench and referral to the Constitutional Court.
“Whereupon, after reading the documents filed of record and hearing counsel, it is ordered that:
“The preliminary point on jurisdiction raised by the respondents be and is hereby upheld with costs.
“The court declines jurisdiction in this matter. Full reasons for this order will follow in due course,” the three-member bench comprising Justices Elizabeth Gwaunza, Joseph Musakwa and Hlekani Mwayera, ruled.
The ruling came after Matsika in November last year approached the Supreme Court seeking condonation for late filing of his court papers.
Supreme Court judge Justice Chinembiri Bhunu dismissed the application, accusing Matsika of lack of honesty, prompting the businessman to appeal against the ruling.
Croco Holdings’ lawyers, however, raised a preliminary point challenging jurisdiction of the court.
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The Supreme Court judges ruled that they had no jurisdiction over a judgment by the same court.
In 2020, the High Court had no kind words for Matsika in the shareholding wrangle, which he also lost with costs after ruling that he had used forged documents.
In a hard-hitting judgement, High Court judge Owen Tagu slapped Matsika and his firm Fairgold Investments (Private) Limited with costs over his “dishonesty”.
“The applicants (in the High Court case) (Matsika and Fairgold Investments) sought to seek relief from this court by fabricating documents, a fabrication as amateurish as it is disrespectful,” Tagu said.
“But then, there was a method to this madness because even the founding and answering affidavits lacked nothing in wounded pride and dignity but contained nothing of substance.
“For that, there must be consequence to his pocket as the only antidote in the hands of the court to show its displeasure at such a brazen abuse of the process of the court.”
It emerged during the court hearing that Matsika was initially employed as a chief executive officer by Croco Holdings, before his employment was terminated in 2015.
He, however, told the court that he holds 30% of issued shares in Croco Holdings through his company Fairgold Investments.
Tagu dismissed Matsika’s application after ruling that he had failed to justify how he had acquired the shares he claimed to own in Croco Holdings.
