Over the years, Sakwiba Sikota has become the personification of the jealous, hate and malice that has been thrown in the way of Dr. Rajan Mahtani. Mr. Sikota has, as a matter of fact, turned out to be an instrument of criminality on the market place and has become extensively user friendly for corporate criminal gangs that opt to run away from legitimate obligations. For many Zambians, it is recalled that an affidavit that one Zaheeda Essa made available before the legal practitioners committee as part of the documents accompanying her complaint against Sakwiba did absolute damage to the machinations and the Ventriglia mafias.
The affidavit, which caught Sakwiba unawares, exposed a great deal of clandestine, fraudulent and illegal dealings that Sakwiba ventured into in an attempt to win some form of relief for his crooked clients. In an affidavit that Zaheeda Essa submitted she, inter alia, averred that Shortly before leaving her employment with the Mahtani Group of Companies against her will and choice, she was forced to engage in activities which were detrimental to the interests of the Mahtani Group of Companies, its employees as well as her own interests as a person and as a legal practitioner at the instigation of the notorious Sakwiba Sikota.
It will be recalled by many that Zaheeda Essa was, for all intents and purposes held hostage by Sakwiba Sikota who was given the use of key law enforcement agencies at his disposal by the corrupt MMD regime. Before the PF government came to power under the leadership of the late Michael Sata, Sakwiba had a field day; he could manipulate all the law enforcement agencies and turn things in the favor of those that hired him to do the dirty job. For Zaheeda, it is rough. Against her free will, she was forced to sign all sorts of documents by Sakwiba all in an effort to fix Rajan Mahtani. One of the first machinations brought to the fore was when Sakwiba’s dominance at the DEC was manifested. Mr. Sikota stormed in tandem with some DEC officers that were made available to him and made Zaheeda Essa a witness in a criminal cases against some of the officers of the of the Mahtani Group of Companies on clearly trumped up charges. She was further brutally forced by Sakwiba and DEC officers to discuss matters and information that had come to her in her capacity as Legal Counsel for the Mahtani Group of Companies.
On another occasion, Zaheeda’s victimization and brutal treatment at the hands of Sakwiba Sikota was also aimed at benefitting the Ventriglias; an Italian criminal gang that has illegally taken charge of operations at the Zambezi Portland Cement. At the instigation of Sikota who worked closely with a clique of officers from the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC), Sakwiba Sikota acting for the Ventriglias, among others, brutally forced Zaheeda Essa to sign affidavits and witness statements, which were later, without Zaheeda’s knowledge, used in various cases in which some of the companies under the Mahtani Group of Companies were involved.
While the Ventriglias are obviously hard core criminals who are insisting on reaping where they did not sow, it is undeniable that in Sakwiba Sikota they have found a strong abettor. He is always there to provide what they do not have. Sakwiba has provided them more than legal representation; he has gone as far as engaging people in mafia like style all in an effort to create fertile ground for the criminality perpetrated by his paymasters. At best, as may be deciphered from Zaheeda’s attached affidavit, Sakwiba has also provided the Ventriglias with the necessary political connections. These are connections or networks that borne from Saki’s manipulation of the political leaders so as to reach his criminal ends. In clear terms money is all that matters for Saki and his mafia clients. SEE ATTACHED AFFIDAVIT FOR MORE DETAILSZaheeda