Mr Kalaa Mpinga
Golden Sibanda Senior Business Reporter
MWANA Africa founding chief executive Mr Kalaa Mpinga became the fifth director to leave the multi-commodity miner only a day after a key shareholder took over as chairman.
The Alternative Investment Market listed mining group, which has its major assets in Zimbabwe, had on Tuesday booted out two Zimbabwean directors from the board. Old mining hands Mr Herbert Mashanyare and respected corporate leader Mr Ngoni Kudenga were voted out of the board at an extraordinary general meeting in London.
The EGM had been requisitioned by minority shareholders representing 5,1 percent equity in the company led by Mr Ian Dearing. It also targeted removal from the board the pair of interim non-executive chair Stuart Morris and non-executive director John Botha. Resolutions to consider the removal of Mr Morris and Mr Botha as directors of the company were eventually not considered after they elected to step down at the EGM.
But while Mwana’s new executive chairman claimed Mr Mpinga’s exit was by mutual consent, it is no secret that all was not well in the board, with CIMG pushing for the removal of four directors, which the CEO was clearly against and had fought fiercely to prevent.
After the quartet’s exit, Mwana board now chaired by largest shareholder China International Mining Group associate Mr Ning Yat Hoi approved appointment of ousted chairman Mr Mark Wellesly-Wood, Mr Olivier Barbeau and Ms Anne-Marie Chidzero.
Mwana yesterday announced the unceremonious departure of Mr Mpinga with immediate effect and elevation of non-executive interim chair Yat Hoi as executive chairman.
“These changes have been approved by the board of directors and will take effect immediately. The nominations committee, which comprises Mr Ning, Mr Wellesley-Wood and Dr Morrison will initiate an executive search to find a suitable successor to fill the position of chief executive officer,” Mwana said in a statement released yesterday.
Mr Ning claimed that Mr Mpinga and Mwana had agree to part company by mutual consent, describing the founding chief executive as having been a great asset to the company.
“With these recent changes to the board having now taken place, it marks clear new beginning for Mwana and its shareholders, and we are confident that we have all the necessary experience to deliver success in the future,” the Mwana executive chair said.
The departure of Mr Mpinga also coincided with the return of ousted ex-chairman, Mr Wellesley- Wood, last year over differences with the Mwana board, allegedly over suspicion he was being used by some corporate vultures as an agent for a hostile takeover.
It was alleged Mr Wellesley-Wood had links
with Centar Mining, which had partnered Meikles Limited to explore mining opportunities in Zimbabwe, which allegedly was angling for Mwana’s assets.
In a vindication of the deep-seated suspicion in the group regarding investments, one of the resolutions at Tuesday’s EGM was that no acquisitions or disposals would be made by the company without prior and adequate notification of all members of the group.
Mr Mpinga, who is a citizen of the DRC, has held a number of senior positions in different locations around the world and his work career including working for Bechtel Corporation in San Francisco and Anglo American Corporation of South Africa from 1991.
In 1995 he joined the New Mining Division, responsible for exploration and the acquisition of resources in Africa. He was appointed a director of Anglo American Corporation in 1997.
He left the group in December 2001 to pursue business opportunities in mining, founding Mwana Africa Holdings (Proprietary) Limited, the forerunner of Mwana Africa, in 2003.