Africa-Press – Malawi. In a standoff that lays bare the limits of parliamentary oversight, former Secretary to the President and Cabinet Colleen Zamba has effectively brushed off Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), forcing lawmakers to concede defeat in their attempts to question her over the controversial purchase of Amaryllis Hotel by the Public Service Pension Trust Fund (PSPTF).
PAC members now admit they have given up.
Committee chairperson Steve Baba Malondera confirmed that after repeated refusals by Zamba to appear before the committee, efforts to hold her to account have stalled, with no clear path forward.
Zamba, who is reportedly in South Africa for medical treatment, has stood her ground and declined to testify. Through her lawyer, George Kadzipatike, she formally communicated to the Clerk of Parliament that she cannot appear before PAC because she is already a party to a court case linked to the same Amaryllis Hotel transaction.
Despite being summoned multiple times, she has not budged.
This marks at least the third time Zamba has refused to submit to parliamentary scrutiny, each time citing different grounds. A week ago, her legal team doubled down, arguing that appearing before PAC while the matter is in court would be inappropriate. She also pointed to her medical situation as a further reason for her absence.
But the optics are damning.
Here is a former top government official, at the centre of a high-profile public funds transaction, openly declining to face Parliament—and Parliament, in turn, appearing unable or unwilling to enforce its authority.
Malondera has not indicated what steps, if any, the committee will now take, including whether it will invoke its legal powers to compel her attendance. For now, PAC’s retreat sends a troubling signal: that a determined public officer can simply ignore Parliament and face no immediate consequences.
This is not new territory for Zamba.
In 2022, during the NOCMA fuel procurement inquiry, she similarly refused to appear before PAC after then acting CEO Hellen Buluma accused her—then serving as NOCMA Board Chairperson—of exerting pressure to award contracts under questionable circumstances. When summoned at the time, Zamba leaned on advice from the Attorney General to avoid appearing, a position that was publicly challenged by the Malawi Law Society.
The pattern is becoming hard to ignore.
Political analysts say the current standoff goes beyond one ব্যক্তি or one deal—it strikes at the heart of accountability. If senior public officials can sidestep Parliament by citing ongoing court cases or medical grounds, then the entire system of legislative oversight risks being reduced to a paper tiger.
Right now, the message is loud and clear: PAC demanded answers, Zamba refused—and Parliament blinked.
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