By Kusekwa Kusekwa
The High Court in Arusha has dismissed a suit filed by former director and shareholder of Coastal Travel Limited, Ms Anna Westh De Brauwer, who was demanding USD 315,000 as the alleged outstanding value of shares she claims to have relinquished to the air taxi company eight years ago.
Justice Frank Mahimbali ruled in favour of the Dar es Salaam-based air charter company and two other defendants, holding that the plaintiff had failed to prove her entitlement to the USD 315,000 she claimed for the surrendered shares.
“The claim of USD 315,000 is not founded, as it is unclear how shares totalling 3,900 at a value of TZS 1,000 each in 1992, later amounting to 40,050 shares in 2017, give rise to a claim of USD 315,000,” the judge said in a judgment delivered recently.
On the plaintiff’s argument that she owned 20 per cent of the company by 2017 or thereafter, the court also rejected the assertion, noting that it was not supported by any evidence.
“I have meditatively asked myself how such a claim of USD 315,000 arose. Is it through share realisation (the plaintiff’s 40,050 shares) or the company’s assets? The computation by the plaintiff, in my considered view, based on the facts available in this case, departs significantly from the pleadings and evidence,” he said.
The judge further observed that there was a clear diversion from the facts of the case and the evidence presented in court, adding that the plaint itself was contradictory as to how the plaintiff allegedly progressed from being a shareholder of 3,900—or later 40,050—shares to claiming ownership of 20 per cent of the company.
“There is no nexus of evidence linking the plaintiff to ownership of the defendant company nor to a balance of USD 315,000. The value of 40,050 shares in 2017, when she transferred her shares to the first defendant, is not clearly shown to be equivalent to USD 315,000. Is it through share profit multiplication, or what? This confusion has been brought by the plaintiff herself. What is claimed is far from what has been established,” he added.
The court therefore ordered Coastal Travel Limited to refund the plaintiff the value of her 40,050 shares at TZS 1,000 per share — the value at the time of transfer on 1 December 2017 — and nothing more, noting that she had already been paid USD 200,000 and given an aircraft worth USD 80,000.
“What else does the plaintiff owe the first defendant? I believe there was a good deal, best known between the plaintiff and the former Managing Director of the company, the late Nicola Colangelo, the details of which we have not been privileged to know. Let it rest as such,” the judge remarked.
During the hearing, the defendants denied all claims by the plaintiff, arguing that they were unfounded and lacked any legal basis for the court’s consideration. The court ordered each party to bear their own costs.
