Police confirm Magalasi arrested over Amaryllis Hotel cash withdrawals
Former MERA boss Collins Magalasi has been arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in connection with the controversial Amaryllis Hotel deal.
National Police spokesperson Gladys Chiwawula confirmed the arrest, saying further details would be provided later.
Magalasi was picked around 5am today in Area 49, Lilongwe and is being kept at Lumbadzi police station.
The arrest comes amid ongoing investigations into the movement of billions of kwacha following the sale of the hotel, with scrutiny previously centred on K5.497 billion withdrawn in cash from the Yusuf Investments account at National Bank between January and March 2026.
According to information emerging from the investigation, Magalasi is alleged to have been involved in a K5 billion cash withdrawal operation, in which proxies reportedly withdrew the money from National Bank before handing it over to him.
The proxies are said to have been told the money was being taken to State House.
The allegations are serious, and questions over who authorised the withdrawals, who ultimately received the cash, and where the money went are now expected to form a central part of the ACB’s investigation.
The wider Amaryllis saga has already raised significant concerns over the handling of billions of kwacha from the hotel transaction, with parliamentary investigations also examining the suspicious cash withdrawals separately.
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At first, I thought the comments were from a neutral position. Then I saw the clarity of information, then came the emotions followed by the deep dive into reasons why this and that is
I think you will agree that we need to look at the bigger picture before celebrating this arrest as if the Amaryllis matter has been solved.
What is interesting is that the information now being used against Magalasi was already reported in April. The reports alleged that CCTV showed a convoy of unmarked State House vehicles, more than 15 armed police officers, and Magalasi allegedly overseeing the withdrawal of K1.5 billion on two occasions. That is K3 billion in cash. They also reported about 25 withdrawals from the same account involving different people, some reportedly linked to State House and government officials.
So, five months later, Magalasi is arrested. Fair enough—if he committed a crime, let the evidence prove it.
But one thing needs to be established: Are we sure Magalasi actually authorised or ordered the withdrawals? At the time, he was not holding a government position, nor was he holding an official position in the DPP. If he gave such orders, on whose authority was he acting? And if he had no such authority, who gave him that power?
The bigger questions remain: Who authorised the operation? Who gave the instructions? Why were State House vehicles and armed police allegedly involved? Who knew about the withdrawals? Where did the K5 billion go? Who received it and who benefited?
If these allegations were already known in April, why has the investigation taken this long, and why are we hearing mainly about Magalasi today?
I am not saying Magalasi is innocent, and I am not accusing anyone without evidence. But arresting one person should not make us stop asking who else was involved.
Let the ACB follow the money, the instructions and the chain of command—not simply stop at the person who is easiest to arrest.
If Magalasi is guilty, let him face the law. But if he was acting on someone else’s authority, that person must also be found. Malawi needs the whole truth, not just one name.
Selective justice by the ACB. We should not celebrate that ACB is working. This is pure politics. The big 5 running the country are the ones trying to punish Magalasi. They know that he is a thorn in the flesh. He knows their tactactics. They put him aside after taking government, and now that they are stealling and they feel like Magalasi is revealing them, they want to punish him for that. They want to show Malawians that they are not arresting olnly MCP people but all along, after Magalasi helped the DPP with the manifesto, they dumped him and now they want to persecute him further.
I see politics in the arrest of Dr. Magalasi. How can the whole convey go and collect the money without the knowledge of the minister, the people in the state house. What position was Magalasi holding in order to have the power to command the whole convey? Since DPP won the elections, Magalasi was not given any position either in Government or anywhere else. There are people in the DPP who are afraid of him with his intelligency. They want to silence him completely. He might have been involved but to single pick him its where it is smelling a rat.