Africa-Press – Malawi. Parliament turned into a political battleground as Deputy Leader of the House Shadreck Namalomba and Leader of the Opposition Simplex Chithyola Banda tore into each other over the explosive K128 billion Amaryllis Hotel deal—each side fighting to pin the scandal on the other.
What began as a financial controversy has now morphed into a no-holds-barred political war.
Namalomba came out swinging, squarely blaming the previous administration under former president Lazarus Chakwera, insisting it was the true architect of the controversial Public Service Pension Trust Fund (PSPTF) purchase.
But Chithyola Banda fired back with equal force—dragging current top government officials into the mud and demanding immediate dismissals.
He named Finance Minister Joseph Mwanamvekha, Attorney General Frank Mbeta, Reserve Bank Governor George Partridge, and PSPTF chairperson Chizaso Nyirongo as figures who must fall if government is serious about accountability.
“For us to show fiscal discipline at the highest level, the President must act now,” Chithyola thundered in Parliament. “The way this deal was handled smacks of a criminal enterprise.”
That accusation lit the fuse.
Namalomba quickly dismissed the claims as reckless and misleading, particularly the targeting of Mwanamvekha.
“The Fund operates independently. The minister has nothing to do with its money,” Namalomba shot back, brushing off the allegations as political theatrics.
But Chithyola was not backing down. He doubled down, warning that the scandal is not isolated but part of a growing pattern of financial misconduct that threatens public trust—and worse, pensioners’ savings.
“This is not just about a hotel,” he charged. “This is about protecting Malawians’ money from what appears to be systemic abuse.”
At the heart of the raging fight is a deal that has stunned the nation: PSPTF’s purchase of Amaryllis Hotel for K128 billion—more than double its approximate K48 billion valuation just two years earlier.
The staggering price gap has fueled suspicion, anger, and now, outright political warfare.
As the two camps trade blows, Speaker of Parliament Sameer Suleman attempted to cool the rising tensions, urging restraint and calling on the public to wait for the outcome of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) inquiry.
But even that intervention struggled to contain the heat.
“The inquiry could take two months or even two years,” Suleman cautioned—a timeline that does little to calm a nation demanding answers now.
Meanwhile, President Peter Mutharika has sought to position himself above the fray, saying he is closely following the PAC probe and warning that he will not shield anyone found guilty of corruption.
Yet on the ground, the political gloves are off.
This is no longer just an investigation—it is a brutal fight for narrative control, where reputations, power, and public trust are all on the line.
And as Namalomba and Chithyola dig in, one thing is clear: the Amaryllis saga is far from over.
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