Yusuf Investments Limited said it entered into a binding agreement with Public Service Pension Trust Fund for the sale of Amaryllis Hotel in September 2023.
The revelation contradicts documents The Nation has seen showing that for much of the delay before the deal was concluded in November 2025, the pension fund did not have a legally constituted board that needed to approve such transactions.
In a confidential submission to Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament earlier this week, Yusuf Investments Limited chairperson Shiraz Yusuf said the transaction was not a new investment decision, but “the implementation of a pre-existing and legally binding commercial arrangement” concluded in September 2023.
The submission followed Yusuf’s walkout from a PAC inquiry earlier this week after his request for a closed session was denied. PAC has since accused him of contempt of Parliament.
Documents attached to the submission show that the process began in May 2023 when Cedar Capital Limited, acting for Yusuf Investments, invited bids for up to 100 percent equity in the hotel. By September 15 2023, the fund’s board had approved the acquisition.
On September 19, 2023, Nico Asset Managers Limited, then the fund’s investment manager, offered K47 billion which Yusuf Investments accepted on September 27 2023.
A legal opinion from Mauritius-based Brink Consulting dated July 25 2024 states: “Yusuf Investments Limited on 27 September 2023 accepted the offer, whereupon a binding contract… came into being.”
Nico Asset Managers withdrew from the transaction in December 2023, according to the submission.
Between March 2024 and May 2025, the fund’s principal officer George Jim wrote several letters reaffirming the fund’s commitment, including one stating a new fund manager would “review and close this within a month at the least”, according to Yusuf Investments’ submission.
The transaction was finalised in November 2025 at K128.75 billion, but minutes of the negotiations show that the seller initially sought K185 billion while the fund offered K110 billion before agreeing on the final price.
Yusuf Investments says it acted solely as a commercial seller and was not involved in the fund’s governance or decision-making processes.
In a letter dated April 25 2026, its lawyer argued the committee’s mandate is limited to “oversight of public expenditure, public money and public resources” and that “on that basis alone, jurisdiction of this committee does not arise.”
