The Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) Legal Practitioners’ Committee has dismissed a complaint of alleged unethical behavior brought by the Kalenga Family against George Kunda & Company and Mrs. Irene Mwezi Kunda SC in a running legal dispute over Sun Pharmaceuticals Limited.
The Committee also noted that the late Hon. Kalenga was not a shareholder in Sun Pharmaceuticals Limited, though he was a director of the company.
The Committee also noted that he was, however, the majority shareholder and Director in Zambia Modern Enterprises Limited, which in turn was a shareholder in Sun Pharmaceuticals Limited.
“The documents presented to the Committee by the complainants do not show where any of them are listed as Directors of the company,” read the Ruling.
“The Complainants state that they are Administrators of the Estate of the late Hon Kalenga, though no appointing documents were presented to the committee, neither were any documents to show that the Complainants were ever directors of Sun Pharmaceuticals Limited,” read the Ruling.
“It is therefore difficult to see how a conflict of interest arose when the practitioner represented Mr. Sadhu, who, as she said, was the only official representative of the company that she dealt with.”
Below is the Law Association of Zambia, Legal Practitioners’ Committee Ruling;
LAZ DECISION
“We are thankful to the parties for their submissions both written and oral, and have taken note of what has been presented before us.”
“Although going through the written submissions, especially from the Complainants, a lot of allegations have been made against the Practitioner, the focus of the Committee is only restricted to the allegations of conflict of interest on the part of the Practitioner.”
“These allegations are that the Practitioner found herself in a conflict position because she represented Mr. Sadhu and his family in a case where the complainants had sued the same Sadhu in court.”
“They argue that because the Practitioner’s firm represented Sun Pharmaceuticals Limited, she should not have acted for the Sadhus, their contention lies with the fact that the Practitioner’s prior representation of Sun Pharmaceuticals, a company in which the Sadhu family and the Late Hon. John Kalenga held significant interests, created a conflict-of-interest situation.”
“And that when the Administrators of the Estate of the late Hon Kalenga initiated legal proceedings against Mr. Sadhu and his family, the Practitioner should not have represented them.”
“In determining whether there exists or existed a conflict of interest on the part of the Practitioner, it is important to ascertain what the position of the parties was in Sun Pharmaceuticals Limited.”
“From the records availed to the Committee by the Complainants, and particularly the exhibit marked K6, it is noticed that the Directors of Sun Pharmaceuticals Limited were among others Mr. Sadhu and the late Hon. Kalenga.”
“The shareholders of the same company were:
- Zambian Modern Enterprises Limited
- Padley & Venables (C.A) Limited
- Sunvest Limited Zambia.”
“From this, the Committee noted that the late Hon. Kalenga was not a shareholder in Sun Pharmaceuticals Limited, though he was a director in the company.”
“He was, however, the majority shareholder and Director in Zambia Modern Enterprises Limited, which in turn was a shareholder in Sun Pharmaceuticals Limited.”
“The Complainants state that they are Administrators of the Estate of the late Hon Kalenga, though no appointing documents were presented to the committee, neither were any documents to show that the Complainants were ever directors of Sun Pharmaceuticals Limited.”
“The Committee noted that it is difficult to establish a nexus between the Complainants and the company called Sun Pharmaceuticals Limited. It is not in dispute that the late Hon. Kalenga was a director in the said company, but the same cannot be said about the complainants.”
“The documents presented to the Committee by the complainants do not show where any of them are listed as Directors of the company. It is, therefore, difficult to see how a conflict of interest arose when the practitioner represented Mr. Sadhu, who, as she said, was the only official representative of the company that she dealt with.”
“It is thus the conclusion of this Committee that the complaint against the practitioner has not been proved, and it is therefore dismissed.”
Foreigners grab hard earned local company by Kalenga.
Kunda earns his share from the robbery, just like that Liquidator. LAZ committee walks away with their exorbitant allowances.
Thank God that the Solicitor and Attorneys General are not involved (yet).
i heard these kalengas were working with UPnD cadres who took them to a house to sign over their company….sadhu even have the evidence… why should we allow such illegalities only because zambians committed the crime against an indian?? what is wrong is wrong and we cannot support such nonsense
Surely if the Kalenga’s were directors in this company, after their father died, they would have produced evidence of that fact? LAZ Ruling has clearly stated that they failed to furnish any proof of directorship or shareholding. In other words, Kalenga’s are wholly untrustworthy and the LAZ committee did what was right.
After politicians, lawyers are the biggest white collar criminals. In Kitwe, a lawyer that represented a client in the execution of a writ of Fifa to recover a loan ended up buying the property that was pledged as collateral at an absurdly cheap price thereby leaving his client in debt in legal fees. The client got shocked when he discovered that his lawyer was the buyer of his property and was still following him for exorbitant legal fees. He died of depression
Followed this case….@kalengas are not truthful! There are court judgements which have not been reported in the media but on WhatsApp I’ve seen and also that same case of kidnapping and extortion…. sadly Zambia police is more than capable of executing and covering up such illegalities….what were these kalengas doing with there with the upnd cadres acting as police officers?? at least laz has seen through the lies. evil must never triumph in our Christian nation.
Congrats to Madame Kunda! They tried to tarnish her reputation, but ultimately, GOD sees ALL! The matter of Sun Pharma is well known. My uncle’s neighbour worked at their factory in Ndola 25 years back, and he relays the owner and managing director was always Vinod Sadhu. Apparently, the late Kalenga failed to implement the project after taking a loan and was bailed out by Sadhu, who took over and built the factory in Ndola. Now, the children have come after thirty years and want to take everything using some ‘connections’! sigh.. my Zambia, is anything possible in our country with the right political connections?
The founder of this Law Firm, Late Attorney General, Minister of Justice and Vice President George Kunda was known as an outstanding lawyer. He would stand his ground on principle, at times opposing decisions of President Mwanawasa, when he found them legally questionable. Can we imagine such principles under President Hichilema’s cabinet today?
In our society a window is often seen as a soft target, which the Kalenags have shamefully exploited. Law Association of Zambia have upheld their duty by throwing out the complaint.
It’s kind of strange to hear about some of these names after ages! Sadhu was very well known in Ndola. His office had a lot of staff in town on Broadway, Mpelembe House. george kunda chambers were also in ndola before moving to Lusaka, by which time we left for SA. They were both very active members of the community. I remember Sadhu led a community group that had planted all the trees you will see along major roads throughout ndola. happy for them both.
So they were deciding the matter from one full year from August 2023 till July 2024 kkkkk LAZ must get serious about their business. Even when an accused is found innocent, they have been punished by the process!!
George Kunda was one of the best legal brains this country produced and to have put his wife on the stand for a case the late Hon Kunda defended is tardy of LAZ. Law Association should be hearing cases against the corrupt likes of Lewis Mosho, we wait for such cases to heard and licenses to be revoked.
When George Kunda was serving as Minister of Justice, he set a positive tone at the office for all staff members. He consistently supported his team when they made mistakes and even accompanied junior staff from the chambers if they were nervous about a case. He exuded a strong sense of professionalism. Although I didn’t personally know his wife, based on what I’ve heard, it was Mr Kunda who handled the case of Sun Pharma. I find it difficult to believe that he would ever compromise himself. It seems more likely that the Kalenags are being economical with the truth or, at worst, exploiting some political connection to intimidate his wife. I am glad to hear of the ruling.