Twists, turns in hotel deal

Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) yesterday learnt that the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) has traced about K72.6 billion connected to the controversial K128.75 billion Amaryllis Hotel deal and has since frozen bank accounts. Briefing PAC in the ongoing public inquiry into the purchase of the Blantyre-based five-star hotel by the Public Service Pension Trust Fund (PSPTF) in Lilongwe yesterday, RBM Governor George Partridge, wearing the hat of registrar of financial institutions, said trustees of the fund acted with “disobedience bordering on arrogance” by proceeding with the acquisition despite clear regulatory orders to stop the process. He said the central bank has engaged the Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA) to “follow the money” and investigate possible financial crimes connected to the deal.

In the meantime, Partridge said National Bank of Malawi Plc and CDH Investment Bank have been directed to reverse the transactions, regard the loans as unpaid and quarantine the proceeds until conclusion of investigations. He further told the committee that the regulator has escalated action against the fund’s trustees for defying a November 2025 directive to halt the transaction. Partridge also questioned the due diligence on the transaction, saying the investment appeared to rely on advice from a firm that “only spent one day” on the deal.

In a separate submission, RBM director of pension and insurance supervision Kaluso Chihana said letters were issued on February 27 2026 to the FIA and commercial banks to trace and freeze accounts linked to the investment. He confirmed that about K72.6 billion has so far been tracked. “When the board met on November 19, we were shocked to learn the sale agreement had already been signed.

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Some trustees were not even aware of the signing,” he said. Meanwhile, PAC chairperson Steven Malondera has since directed the registrar to engage an audit firm to conduct lifestyle audits on individuals suspected of involvement in the deal. In a related development, the fund’s acting principal officer Boyd Hamella yesterday contradicted the submission by Nico Asset Managers Limited chief executive officer Daniel Dunga last week on how the investment advisory firm withdrew from the Amaryllis Hotel deal.

Hamella told PAC that Dunga’s claim that Nico Asset Managers walked away due to investment risks was false. He wondered why Nico Asset Managers, which was engaged by the fund to conduct investment analysis, failed to carry out due diligence. Responding to a question from Malondera during the inquiry, Hamella said Nico Asset Managers had its own interests in a competing hotel development at Lilongwe Golf Club, creating what he described as a potential conflict of interest.

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