PAC report names Zamba, others over K128.7bn Amaryllis hotel purchase
Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has recommended further investigation, legislative reform, recovery of losses and individual accountability over the K128.7 billion Public Service Pension Trust Fund purchase of Amaryllis Hotel.
The committee’s report was adopted on March 31, under committee chairperson Steven Malondera.
PAC said the transaction represented serious lapses in fiduciary discipline, governance and institutional oversight.
PAC’s earlier version of the report was withdrawn on grounds that it was incomplete, because key witnesses, including former Secretary to the President and Cabinet Colleen Zamba, were not interviewed.
The updated version explicitly identifies specific governance failures, targeting institutions and individuals it holds responsible for the deal.
PAC said: “The transaction represented a serious lapse of fiduciary discipline and a departure from the principle of transparency, accountability and prudence that must govern the management of public pension funds.”
PAC has recommended deeper investigations into the conduct of Zamba, alongside former State Residences Chief of Staff Prince Kapondamgaga, who both attended a crucial March 6, 2024 meeting regarding the deal.
Former pension fund officials and trustees also face similar scrutiny.
Besides, the committee wants individual accountability assessments for all trustees who approved the transaction, including potential civil liability and asset recovery where negligence or misconduct is established.
The report also raised questions over the commercial viability of the transaction. Initial assessments by NBM Bank valued the hotel business at between K26 billion and K35 billion, while property valuations placed its market value at roughly K34 billion.
Yet the fund agreed to purchase the asset for K128.7 billion, despite managing pension savings of around 129,000 civil servants.
PAC said the fund’s investment manager, Alco Asset Managers, withdrew from the deal due to concerns that the transaction lacked adequate technical scrutiny and exposed the fund to severe financial risks.
The committee said the fund’s board received warnings in January 2024 not to proceed, but the transaction was revived.
The committee described the final stage of the acquisition as raising critical steps rushed through an “implausibly compressed timeframe.”
The sale agreement was signed on November 17, 2025, just one day after the Registrar of Financial Institutions issued a stop order.
Pension fund spokesperson Yamikani Sekeni said the controversial decisions were made under the previous regime.
He said: “The governance actions and decisions undertaken during the period of the transaction were conducted under the oversight of the former board of trustees.”
Civil society leaders have welcomed the findings, but urged stiffer enforcement.
Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency executive director Willy Kambwandira welcomed the call for criminal proceedings, although he noted the recommendations “fell short of what the public expected.”
National Advocacy Platform chairperson Benedicto Kondowe praised the report for framing the scandal as a systemic breakdown of institutional safeguards, rather than a simple bad investment.
The Secretary to the Treasury has been ordered to report back on the progress of implementing the recommendations within 21 days of the report’s adoption by the House.
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