High Court sets June 22 as hearing date on US$50million Forit Contracting ownership wrangle
HARARE — The Commercial Division of the High Court of Zimbabwe has formalized a definitive hearing date for the protracted US$50 million ownership and inheritance litigation engulfing the prominent civil engineering conglomerate, Forit Contracting (Private) Limited. According to an official Notice of Hearing issued by the Registrar under Case No. R-HCHC65/24, the Summons Commencing Action is scheduled for an in-person adjudication in Court Room 1 on Monday, June 22, 2026, at 10:00 AM. The high-stakes proceedings will be presided over by the Honourable Justice Chilimbe.
This looming judicial showdown marks the culmination of years of intense rancor, legal maneuvering, and deeply personal acrimony. The multi-million-dollar legal confrontation pits the biological children of the late businesswoman Juliet Mable Ziki-Kangai—namely Raphael Kangai (pictured), Takarwisa Kangai, and Tirivanhu Kangai (the Plaintiffs)—against their stepfather, Itayi Madziyire, alongside Forit Contracting itself (the Defendants). Given the complex, multi-layered regulatory dimensions of the corporate and estate architecture involved, the Master of the High Court, the Registrar of Companies, and Tinashe M. Zenda the Executive Dative of the Estate, have also been formally cited as nominal defendants in the matter.
. The Kangai siblings assert that their late mother, Juliet Mable Ziki-Kangai, co-founded Forit Contracting in 1994, contributing indispensable capital, strategic vision, and operational foundational support to establish a 50/50 partnership with Madziyire. During the early 1990s, the company successfully positioned itself within Zimbabwe’s competitive civil engineering and infrastructural development sectors, securing lucrative government and private tenders that laid the groundwork for its current US$50 million valuation.
However, the trajectory of the family and the business irrevocably altered following her untimely demise in November 1998. In the wake of their mother’s passing, the Plaintiffs allege they were systematically disenfranchised from the enterprise. Despite their status as the natural and lawful heirs to their mother’s estate, they contend they were completely denied both executive integration within the company’s governance structures and the substantial dividends accrued over nearly three decades of highly lucrative operations. For twenty-eight years, the siblings claim to have watched from the sidelines as the corporate empire their mother allegedly helped build expanded exponentially, while they were entirely frozen out of its financial success and corporate governance.
The plaintiffs, represented by the premier legal firm Dube, Manikai, and Hwacha, are petitioning the court for several sweeping remedies designed to pierce the corporate veil and establish the true historical ownership of the conglomerate. Chief among these demands is a call for a comprehensive, judicially mandated forensic audit of the entity’s shareholding architecture and historical financial ledgers from its inception to the present day. This audit aims to uncover any unauthorized alterations to the share registry or corporate restructuring that may have occurred after Juliet Mable Ziki-Kangai’s death.
Furthermore, the Kangai siblings are demanding an independent, rigorous validation of Forit’s extensive asset portfolio, which spans heavy machinery, real estate, and ongoing infrastructural contractual agreements. The core of their prayer to the court, however, rests on the restitution of wealth. They are seeking the immediate disbursement of multi-million-dollar accrued dividends long overdue to them as the legitimate heirs to the estate, arguing that the withholding of these funds constitutes a severe and continuous breach of fiduciary and estate laws.
Conversely, Itayi Madziyire resolutely maintains that Forit Contracting remains his exclusive enterprise, denying that the late Juliet Mable Ziki-Kangai held an equitable stake that could be passed down to her progeny. He has mounted a formidable defense orchestrated by the distinguished constitutional jurist, Professor Lovemore Madhuku. The defense strategy is anticipated to rigorously challenge the validity, legal efficacy, and modern enforceability of the historical 50/50 partnership covenants, potentially arguing that the claims are prescribed by time or lack the necessary formal registration to bind the current corporate entity.
Apprehensive of deliberate dilatory litigation tactics that could prolong the chamber and open-court proceedings for years, the Kangai siblings previously escalated the dispute beyond civil channels. They lodged formal grievances with the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) and the Attorney-General’s Office, articulating profound anxieties regarding potential asset-stripping, capital flight, and the externalization of corporate funds while the adjudication remains pending before the courts. These regulatory filings have added an intense layer of criminal and anti-corruption scrutiny to an already volatile corporate succession battle.
As the June 22, 2026 hearing approaches, the impending determination by the Commercial Court is widely regarded as a watershed moment in Zimbabwean jurisprudence. The ultimate ruling to be delivered by Mr Justice Chilimbe will not only decide the destiny of a US$50 million indigenous industrial empire but will also establish a critical, binding legal precedent clarifying legacy inheritance frameworks, the protection of minority beneficiaries, and corporate succession laws within the nation for generations to come.
