On public outrage over Amaryllis Hotel purchase

Although the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament is still investigating the Public Service Pension Trust Fund’s (PSPTF) purchase of Amaryllis Hotel, public sentiment is already tightening the noose around the necks of PSPTF board members and their accomplices. The core issue is the alleged scandalous misappropriation of public pension funds, where K90 billion was paid upfront out of a controversial K128 billion total price, despite regulatory directives against the deal. The transaction, which saw the valuation of the property skyrocket from roughly K47 billion to K128 billion in mere months, has left civil servants—the rightful owners of the fund—as the victims.

Evidence gathered by PAC suggests the deal was driven by under-the-table arrangements, allowing those involved to walk away with huge, easy profits. PSPTF, a government agency established in 2017, is tasked with investing retirement funds for civil servants under the regulation of the Registrar of Financial Institutions (RBM Governor). However, when the scandal broke, the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) intervened, ordering the board to rescind the purchase, citing sections 39 and 75 of the Financial Services Act.

RBM demanded justification for ignoring regulatory directives, yet two weeks later, the order remains largely ignored—a “paper tiger.” While the board is presumed innocent until proven guilty, the pressure to act decisively, based on the findings emerging from the PAC meetings, is overwhelming. So, kudos to RBM for taking a further step by tracing K72.6 billion connected to the controversial deal, and freezing the accounts holding the money. My prayer is that the MPS and other agencies are doing their work on this matter.

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I, therefore, give them the benefit of the doubt. Hopefully, and sooner, rather than later, they will spring into action and kill the elephant in the room. As for PAC, under the chairmanship of Steven Malondera, the group has done commendable work in its inquiry into the sale of the hotel.

But we should not expect much from them soon. They are still engaging the various stakeholders on the matter. Then they will compile a report and present it to the plenary session of Parliament where it will be scrutinised further.

Should Parliament decide that some quarters are culpable, it will then recommend MPS or the Anti-Corruption Bureau or the Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA) to conduct further investigations, before arrests can happen. Suffice to say that PAC has greatly simplified the work of governance institutions such as MPS, ACB and FIA. They know where to start from.

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