Chairperson for the Public Accounts Committee (Pac) of Parliament Steve Malondera has claimed that they proposed the withdrawal of a court case involving former Chief Secretary to Government Colleen Zamba on the sale of Amaryllis Hotel.
The committee has been conducting an inquiry into the controversial transaction of the hotel.
However, the probe stalled as the committee was expected to hear from Zamba before tabling it in Parliament.
Last week, Speaker of Parliament Sameer Suleman was quoted by The Nation as saying he had directed the committee to conclude the investigations without hearing Zamba’s testimony.
- Advertisement -
But speaking on ‘Times Exclusive’, which is a programme on Times Television, Malondera said they had wanted Zamba to appear before the committee.
- Advertisement -
“We invited all concerned parties to appear before the committee but, as you are aware, the issue that is before court cannot be discussed in Parliament.
“So, we were surprised that some officials who are well versed with the law went on to obtain a warrant of arrest against Zamba. They needed to wait for the completion of the inquiry before effecting the arrest,” he said.
Malondera said they were also surprised when the government opposed the tabling of the report without the appearance of Zamba.
“Madam Zamba, through her lawyer, wrote to us that she could not appear before the inquiry committee because she is answering a similar case in court.
- Advertisement -
“So, we tried to talk with our legal team so that they [could] engage the DPP [Director of Public Prosecutions] and Attorney General to either withdraw or suspend Zamba’s court case on Amaryllis until we finish our inquiry but they did not,” Malondera said.
He said the Executive arm of the budget should not be two-faced on the issue but allow it to be done fairly.
“We are doing this and others are busy dragging the same issue elsewhere as if they have other interests,” Malondera said.
Ministry of Justice spokesperson Frank Namangale expressed ignorance on Malondera’s remarks.
“We have not received any such request from the National Assembly. In any case, we do not know the legal basis for that kind of a request. We are yet to understand how the issues before the National Assembly have any bearing on the court case,” Namangale said.
With the Speaker’s directive, the committee is expected to adopt the report and later present it to the Speaker for the way forward.
Pac was scheduled to present the report in April this year but shelved the plan after the government side questioned the decision.
The committee was faulted over its decision to present the report before interviewing other equally major stakeholders such as Zamba.
Pac then resumed the investigations but was not successful in bringing Zamba.
The committee commenced the probe after eyebrows were raised over the manner the deal was conducted.
However, a Pac report then leaked and faulted some former and current government authorities for departing from fundamental principles that govern the management of public pension assets.
