HH firm suffers setback

Thu, 11 May 2017 11:49:04 +0000

By Nation Reporter

The retirement benefits of more than 29,000 employees are at stake following a power struggle that has erupted in Zambia’s largest private pension fund, the Saturnia Regna Pension Trust Fund.

The struggle is between the trustees elected by the representative institutions of the fund and the companies appointed to manage the funds on behalf of the trustees.

The managing companies, Benefits Consulting Services Limited and African Life Financial Services Limited, which are owned by Menel Management Limited whose shareholders are Hakainde Hichilema, Munakupya Hantuba, and Valentine Chitalu, sought to remove the elected board of trustees through a court injunction which has now been thrown out by the Lusaka High Court.

The injunction had restrained the fund board of trustees from performing their duties.

But in a ruling delivered last week, Lusaka High Court Judge Ms. Justice Irene Zeko Mbewe dismissed the injunction because of failure by Mr. Hantuba to disclose that he was a majority shareholder in the service providers, a fatal error which would prejudice the outcome of the matter.

“A party who comes to equity seeking an equitable remedy on an ex parte stage, must lay bare before the court each and every fact within its knowledge which in one way or another might influence the court either positively or negatively,” the judge stated in dismissing the injunction.

“I find that this non-disclosure is fatal to the first applicant’s order of interim measure of protection by way of interim injunction granted on 16 February, 2017, and is accordingly dismissed,” Ms Justice Mbewe said.

When filing his application, Mr. Hantuba claimed in his affidavit that he was a member of the scheme and that he would suffer ruin if the injunction was not granted as his contributions would be exposed to the risks of the decisions of an irregularly constituted board of trustees.

But in opposition, the board of trustees stated that Mr. Hantuba had “neglected to tell the court that he is a director of African Life Financial Services and Menel Management Services Limited which is a majority shareholder in Aflife’’.

The trustees’ affidavit further argued that Mr. Hantuba was not only a director of Aflife which had lost an earlier application for injunction which was dismissed by the same court, but that he was the virtue owner of Aflife and his injunction was a ruse intended to circumvent the court’s earlier decision.

The court ruled that it is trite law that all material and relevant facts should be put before the court at exparte stage in an application for an injunction.

According to the evidence on record, there are issues of mistrust between the board of trustees and the service providers. The Saturnia Regna Pension Trust Fund board of trustees is desirous of improving governance of the fund but has been meeting resistance from the service providers, Africa Life Financial Services and Benefits Consulting Services.

Last year in October, Africa Life Financial Services obtained a similar injunction but it was discharged by Ms. Justice Kaunda Newa.