Malawi parliament report on Amaryllis hotel deal ‘ready’ for tabling

A hotly-anticipated parliamentary report into the controversial purchase of Amaryllis Hotel is finally ready to be tabled — bringing to a head months of wrangling over a star witness who never testified.

Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has wrapped up its probe into the Public Service Pension Trust Fund’s purchase of the hotel, Speaker of the National Assembly Sameer Suleman has confirmed.

The bombshell report will be laid before MPs during Parliament’s Mid-Year Budget Review Meeting in November, Suleman revealed in an interview.

PAC chairperson Steven Malondera confirmed all committee members had signed off on the report, which is now sitting in the Speaker’s hands.

But the road to publication has been anything but smooth.

The Executive had fiercely resisted the report being tabled without testimony from former Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Colleen Zamba — branding her a key witness whose evidence could prove crucial.

Zamba, however, never appeared before the committee, with her lawyers arguing she was facing a criminal case at the time.

In a dramatic U-turn, Minister of Information and Communications Technology Shadric Namalomba yesterday revealed that government was now finally ready for the report to be tabled — despite the missing testimony.

The saga has fuelled speculation over what the report might reveal about the hotel deal, with MPs and the public now bracing themselves for its contents when Parliament reconvenes.