Audit Mec- Pac

By Wezzie Gausi:

The public Accounts Committee of Parliament says there is a need to institute a forensic audit regarding the K800 million nomination fees that the Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) invested with Alliance Capital Limited following the decision by the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) to revoke the licence of the investment management firm.

Pac Chairperson Shadreck Namalomba said this in Lilongwe today, when Malawi Electoral Commission officials appeared before the committee to answer audit queries.

Namalomba said the committee is worried about the reports that RBM will liquidate the investment firm, adding that the committee suspects there were foul plays with the money which a forensic audit could clear such thinking.

 “In the past after elections the money was being paid back to the owners but now with what Mec did, we want to know what the money was invested for and who used the money,” Namalomba said.

Mec Acting Chief Elections Officer Harris Potani told Pac that the firm accepted the liabilities of the money.

He said Alliance Capital suggested that they should be paying back K15 million per month to Mec, a thing which Mec declined and Mec has since taken the matter to the courts for determination.

“In our engagement with officials from the company they suggested paying K15 million a month which will take about eight years before they conclude paying the money they owe us. So we opted for the courts to help us map the way forward,” Potani said.

Recently the Registrar of Financial Institutions suspended the portfolio manager licence for Alliance Capital Limited for breach of technical operating requirements as required by the financial services law.

This was against social media reports that the company had been failing to pay money to its investors on the maturity of their investments or withdrawal.