THE High court has ordered Nyashanu Mining Syndicate together with two others acting on its behalf to allow its partner, Wistmer Investments, access to its premises after unlawfully chasing its employees from the site.
Justice Neville Wamambo delivered the judgment after presiding over the urgent chamber application brought by Wistmer investments, complaining of its displacement by its business partner. “The respondents be and are ordered to allow applicant and its employee undisturbed access of the mining location being Bang 136 and Bang 137,” ruled Wamambo.
Sometime in September 2020 the two parties entered into a joint business venture and became partners in the mining business.
Nyashanu Mining Syndicate was to provide resources which were two mining blocks while Wistmer Investments would provide the equipment and finance.
The joint commercial mining started the same month they partnered, and they would share the proceeds as agreed.
Operations were disrupted in February this year when Blessing Hungwe and Sydney Chidambo came to the mine and violently chased all the Wistmer employees, including those safeguarding its equipment .The duo claimed they were acting on behalf of Nyashanu and allegedly brought a group of hooligans to execute their plans.
After successfully chasing away the Wistmer employees, Hungwe and Chidambo went on to seal off the mining site, thereby denying Wistmer access to the mine until they approached the High Court seeking relief.
The duo is said to have taken 1 kg of gold which they could not account for, when they went to the mine to disrupt the mining activities.
Wistmer through its representative Admire Mango went to report the matter to the police, to which he was advised to approach the courts for help as efforts made by the police to convene a meeting with the duo proved futile.
The pair was adamant that Wistmer did not have any right to be on the mine. It was against this background that Wistmer approached the court, alleging the duo had taken the law into their own hands. By Dionne Kanyowa