WestProp demands retraction over misleading report

Fidelis Munyoro

Chief Court Reporter

West Properties is demanding Bulawayo24 News, an online newspaper, to stop making false reports about the property company as it comments on the initial public offering of West Properties on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange and to withdraw some of the misleading statements it is making.

Bulawayo24 News has been bringing up concluded court cases that had involved West Properties and court cases against others that do not touch West Properties as part of its reporting on the floatation, with this culminating yesterday, in a report that West Properties had more pending litigation than it was listing.

The online newspaper did not attempt to seek comment from the company management on the allegations it made against it, which could have straightened out the reports before they were published.

Through its lawyer, Mr Sternford Moyo of Scanlen and Holderness, West Properties demanded a retraction, saying neither the company nor its legal advisors were invited to comment on the allegations made in the article.

He said the conduct exhibited by the online paper was unlawful, grossly unethical and a violation of West Properties and its advisors’ rights to respond and calculated to convey biased and inaccurate information.

“Consequently, in addition to being grossly inaccurate, misleading and defamatory, your article displays an alarming level of ignorance of simple corporate and commercial matters such as the distinction between a corporation and its directors,” he said.

West Property published its prospectus on 28 March in which it listed four completed cases, three outstanding summons and three pending cases in its legal advisor’s report.

But the online report suggested that the lawyers did not list the case of Georgios Katsimberis v Prosecutor General & Others, HC 5623/22.

However Mr Moyo, in his statement, set the record straight, saying a detailed litigation report was published as an annexure to the prospectus.

He explained that the case that purported to challenge the deed of settlement and transfer of land was an action instituted by Allan Makharm and Zimbabwe Homeless Peoples Federation against Augur Investments and seven others under case number HC 549/2021.

That action along with many others was dismissed by the High Court, and the Supreme Court appeal was unsuccessful. There is no appeal from the Supreme Court.

“An appeal was filed under case number SC 382/2022,” he explained. “It was unsuccessful. It was struck out by the Supreme Court. Consequently, the challenge to land, land allocation or transfer in that matter was unsuccessful.  The matter is reported upon as having been concluded.”

Mr Moyo further stated that the constitutional application by George Katsimberis against the Prosecutor General and others under case number HC 5623/2022 does not challenge the land allocation and transfer, but deals with the exercise by the Prosecutor General of his prosecutorial powers.

In this regard, the Katsimberis case is not a case against WestProp Holdings Limited and according to the lawyer, no order will be made in that case against WestProp Holdings Limited and any order that is made would not adversely affect West Properties.

Augur Investments was neither a holding company nor a subsidiary of WestProp Holdings Limited, so legal actions against some of the directors of Augur Investment had nothing to do with the proprietary interests of WestProp Holdings Limited.