John Moxon calls meeting to sack his Meikles board

John Moxon was in a hospital bed when Meikles directors met to sell off a key asset and fire the CEO - and he claims someone lied that his phone had been "compromised" to keep him in the dark about it all.

Moxon's company, Meikles Consolidated, is calling a meeting of shareholders on December 18 to remove the Meikles board, which he says was behind the plot. Moxon is the largest shareholder in the company, holding 48.38%.

In October, Meikles announced that the board had removed Malcolm Mycroft as CEO, appointing Matthew Moxon as acting CEO. Mycroft reverted to his old position as head of TM Pick n Pay, in which Meikles controls 51%. This decision was taken behind his back while he lay in hospital, Moxon says. He blames directors Rugare Chidembo, James Mushore, Stewart Cranswick and Simmon Hammond, and wants them off the board. These are all the four non-executive board members, apart from Moxon himself.

"On 1 October 2024, the Meikles Limited Chairman was in intensive care in a hospital following a major operation. His understanding of the events at such meeting is that due process and procedure relating to corporate governance and etiquette were not adhered to in the removal of the then CEO," Moxon says in a circular calling for a special shareholder meeting.

A meeting was called in October "with a specific agenda that related to a disposal transaction of an asset". Meikles is said to be considering selling its 50% stake in the Victoria Falls Hotel to Albwardy. The Dubai hotelier bought the Meikles Hotel for US$20 million in 2019.

Moxon accuses other board members of deliberately leaving out the removal of the CEO from that meeting's agenda. Adding to what he sees as a conspiracy, he says someone lied that his phone had been hacked, just so that nobody would take instructions from him.

Says Moxon: "To compound the issue, a communication was circulated by a director in the company on the 4th of October 2024 stating that the Chairman's communication devices were compromised and that: ‘Effective immediately: 1. Do not act on any communications, directives, or instructions that are received from the Chairman through any communication platform, including but not limited to email, phone calls, or messaging apps'. Effectively, any immediate redress by the Chairman of the concerns around the meeting of the 1st of October 2024 were obviated due to the said correspondence."

Moxon says all attempts to solve the dispute have failed and the four board members have to go. He proposes three new board members; Fayaz King, Benjamin Ward, and Marcel Golding.

Says Moxon: "It is paramount therefore to protect the interests of the minority shareholders and indeed all shareholders by and large, by holding accountable the functionaries that they have been entrusted with the running of the company, further buttressing the ethos and the traditions in Meikles Limited of encouraging discourse where controversy may exist and ensuring unity of purpose toward the corporate benefit of all Meikles stakeholders."

On Monday, the ZSE suspended Meikles shares to allow the company to sort out its governance issues.