Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Wednesday withdrew its report on the probe into the Amaryllis Hotel deal, but a leaked report has recommended action against some high-profile individuals for their alleged roles.
When Parliament convened on Wednesday afternoon in Lilongwe, PAC chairperson Steven Malondera announced the withdrawal of the Public Service Pension Trust Fund acquisition of the hotel for K128.75 billion to enable the ad hoc inquiry team to interview other entities perceived to be key in the deal.
Malondera (C). | Nation
“This is about fairness and completeness. Those who did not appear must be given a chance to respond,” he told Parliament after earlier calls from the Executive and some civil society organisations for PAC to cast its net wider.
But hours after Malondera announced that the report would not be shared in Parliament, a 294-page document titled ‘Report of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts upon conducting a special public inquiry into the purchase of Amaryllis Hotel by the Public Service Pnesion Trust Fund’went viral. It is dated March 2026 and has a cover with the Parliament of Malawi logo.
Malondera did not respond to The Nation queries on the leaked report yesterday.
But the leaked report mentions former Secretary to the Office of President and Cabinet Colleen Zamba, former State Residences chief of staff Prince Kapondamgaga, former Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) director of legal and the fund’s board chairperson Chizaso Nyirongo and Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) acting director-general Gabriel Chembezi as some of the officials to face relevant action.
It further names the fund’s acting principal officer Boyd Hamela, suspended principal officer George Jimu, Board Investment Committee chairperson Idrissa Mwale and OPC Principal Secretary for Administration Maxwell Tsitsi.
On Zamba, who the Executive has insisted that should appear before PAC, the report recommends that she be subjected to an independent and comprehensive investigation to determine whether her actions amounted to abuse of public office.
The report says such an investigation should also seek whether her conduct constituted unlawful or improper interference in the affairs of the fund and contributed to the sequence of events that led to the approval of the transaction.
Reads the report: “…her involvement in governance changes affecting the board of trustees; and the extent to which her actions influenced decisions taken contrary to board resolutions and professional advice.”
It further says that where evidence of wrongdoing is established, appropriate administrative, civil and criminal proceedings be instituted in accordance with the law.
PAC found that Kapondamgaga’s involvement in the March 6 2024 meeting in Mzuzu should be formally reviewed and investigated to determine whether it amounted to interference in the fund’s affairs.
“Clear administrative measures be instituted to ensure that public officers do not participate in, or influence, the operations of statutory bodies outside their legal mandate,” it recommends.
For Nyirongo, the report recommends that he should be subjected to a comprehensive investigation to determine whether his conduct, both at OPC and as chairperson of board of the fund constituted abuse of office, conflict of interest or breach of fiduciary duty.
PAC has also recommended temporary suspension of Chembezi to pave the way for an independent inquiry into his conduct, particularly regarding his presence at a meeting that discussed the hotel’s sale agreement in a consultative capacity as well as his subsequent role in overseeing or influencing investigations into the same transaction.
But during his appearance before the inquiry, Chembezi denied any involvement in the deal.
The report has also recommended that Hamela should be subjected to disciplinary and legal review for his role in advancing the transaction in defiance of professional advice and for facilitating the engagement of an unregistered valuer.
On the other hand, the report says his predecessor, Jimu, should be subjected to administrative and legal proceedings for issuing commitment letters without the board’s authority.
When he appeared before PAC, Kapondamgaga confirmed attending the said March 6 2024 on the hotel purchase deal and described his role as an observer representing the OPC, rather than an active decision-maker.
Zamba did not appear before the committee initially stating that she was receiving medical treatment abroad. However, later, through her lawyers, she indicated that she would not attend the inquiry because the State had obtained warrants of arrest for her in connection with the same hotel deal.
Nyirongo, on his part, told PAC that the board suspended Jimu over alleged misconduct, including attempts to divide trustees and to carry out transactions without proper authorisation.
Hamela said Nico Asset Managers Limited had its own interests in a competing hotel development at Lilongwe Golf Club, creating what he described as a potential conflict of interest; hence, its withdrawal from the deal.
But in his earlier submission, Nico Asset Managers Limited chief executive officer Daniel Dunga said the investment advisers warned the fund against a 100 percent acquisition of Amaryllis Hotel as it posed significant financial risks.
The hotel deal between the Pension Fund and Yusuf Investment Limited has been marred by controversy regarding procedure and whether this was a sound investment decision. Others alleged corruption in the transaction.
However, in a December 18 2025 letter to the Attorney General, Chembezi said “the ACB did not find sufficient evidence to sustain charges of corrupt practices or abuse of office by the public officers involved in the transaction”.
