The drama at equipment manufacturer Ellies has all the hallmarks of one of the soap operas repeated interminably by DStv (on which Ellies is now heavily reliant for much of its revenue). From the outside it also looks like one of those old-fashioned African coups – elections are held, the president-for-life is not re-elected, the president ignores the election results. The Ellies board, led by a few key recent appointments, has opted to ignore the wishes of most of its shareholders and rely on a little-known section of the company’s memorandum of incorporation to secure the continued involvement of its lead independent director. It has also opted to confirm the July 2018 appointment of the CEO, though the shareholders refused to confirm his appointment as an executive director. The same shareholders are also challenging the validity of the mid-December reappointment of the chair and a second director. So, as of early January 2019, Ellies has a CEO who is not a director and three dir...

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