Mubuyu Farms director denies owing Barclays

Mubuyu Farms director denies owing Barclays
Written by Maluba Jere
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 8:37:15 AM

MUBUYU Farms Limited director Willem Piet Lublikhof has denied owing Barclays Bank US $16,923,389.49. Lublikholf has since applied for an interlocutory order of injunction to maintain a status quo fair to all parties pending the determination of the case.

In an affidavit in reply to an interim order of injunction applied for by joint receiver and managers John Ward and Richard Mazombwe and Barclays Bank Plc, Lublikhof stated that it was incorrect and misleading for the defendants to assert that he had never disputed that the debt owed to Barclays Bank was over US $16,923,389.94.

Lublikhof stated that to the contrary, he was not indebted to Barclays for an amount of over US$ 16 million.

He also claimed that the affidavit in opposition was premised on the alleged debt which he said was factually incorrect and that he had been advised by his lawyers on record that the said amount could not be recovered through the courts in this country, let alone by Barclays Bank.

Lublikhof further stated that he knew that because of the misconception on the part of the Bank that it had in its favour security documents covering the alleged debt, Barclays had been recalcitrant during the negotiations to agree on the settlement package and that it had rejected out of hand his proposal to expunge the debt owed to it.

He also noted that the advertisement of the sale of the charged assets, including those belonging to Nyati Milling Limited [which has also sued as fourth plaintiff], was intended to deceive members of the public, saying Barclays had already a pre-determined scheme to place Mubuyu Farms assets together with his personal assets in the custody of business associates covered or apparently concealed by the veil of incorporation in the case of Barclays Lusaka Nominees Limited and Zambeef Products Plc and as an institution or entity created by statute in the case of National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA).

Lublikholf added that the defendants concealed and refused to disclose the details of the purported sale to NAPSA as if the plaintiffs had no interest in the eventual resolution or otherwise of the Mubuyu Farm’s indebtedness to Barclays Bank.

He further stated that Barclays Lusaka nominees limited holds 32.86 per cent shares in Zambeef Products Plc while NAPSA had also invested in Zambeef.

Lublikholf also claimed that the Erstwhile chief executive officer Aubrey Chibumba orchestrated the purchase of the assets offered for sale by Ward and Mazombwe and that he is a director of the Zambeef Products Plc board of directors.