Speaker: Zamba must testify on Amaryllis probe

Malawi’s former secretary to the president and cabinet, Colleen Zamba, who is reportedly in South Africa receiving medical treatment, will be required to testify before parliament’s Public Accounts Committee as it investigates the K128bn acquisition of the Amaryllis Hotel, the speaker of parliament has said.

Sameer Suleman, the speaker, said Zamba – who gave virtual testimony last week to a separate parliamentary inquiry into the military plane crash that killed vice-president Saulos Chilima and eight others – could again be permitted to testify remotely.

Suleman said Zamba was a key witness in the Amaryllis inquiry and would need to “state what she knows about the deal.”

He said he would discuss with the committee’s chair, Steven Malondera, how her testimony should proceed, whether via video link or through a formal summons requiring her to appear in person.

The case has taken on added complexity because Zamba is also facing separate criminal proceedings brought by the state over the hotel deal.

She was charged under Criminal Case No. 266 of 2026, accused of abuse of office in relation to the Amaryllis Hotel transaction.

Her lawyer, George Kadzipatike – who also serves as an opposition Malawi Congress Party MP – said his client was not refusing to cooperate with parliament, but cautioned that the ongoing criminal case could complicate, or potentially limit, what she is able to say in her testimony to the committee.

The Amaryllis Hotel acquisition has become one of the most closely watched public accountability cases in Malawi in recent years, with the parliamentary inquiry seen as a test of the legislature’s ability to scrutinise high-value state transactions involving senior former officials.