Fri, 23 Feb 2018 08:01:16 +0000
THE massive plunder of Saturnia pension funds will continue until and unless decisive action is taken by Government to regularise operations at this huge institution representing more than 34, 000 subscribing members.
This is a national catastrophe.
The greatest tragedy is that the Pensions and Insurance Authority (PIA) which should serve as an oversight institution has not only been complicit but appears to have abetted irregularities amounting to offences under the laws of Zambia.
How, for example, did the PIA allow the multi-billion Dollar institution operate without a TPIN number meaning that the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) was effectively denied revenue?
The most troubling aspect of this scandal is the manner in which funds were administered. We have been made to understand that contributions were channeled into a number of nonexistent institutions, such as Saturnia Pension Scheme, Saturnia Pension Fund Limited among others.
Then there is the question of the US$40 million externalised without the authority of the Minister of Finance. No doubt this money was transferred by a bank or banks that should have been aware of Government regulations, which they chose to flout.
Equally reputable audit firms have issued clean bills of audit to the institution whose name still has to be properly established. How is this possible in a country of laws and regulations?
We were encouraged when the then Minister of Finance, Mr. Felix Mutati, ordered an audit into the governance of the Fund. He set the deadline for the release of the report to end of July 2017. Six months down the line, we have not seen the report.
Instead, the report, which has not been circulated is the last agenda item of a hastily convened annual general meeting, not called by the Trustees but by Benefits Consulting Service, a private company with serious vested interests to serve.
Interestingly, the agenda includes the election of trustees. In effect, the Trustees who gave rise to the forensic audit will have been replaced by the time the audit report is discussed. This is nothing short of criminality.
It would stand to reason that existing Trustees should have been given an opportunity to study the report, to make their comments and observation before calling an AGM.
Equally, all interested parties who gave their input should have been availed copies in advance, instead of ambushing them at the meeting.
The report cannot be part of the AGM. This is cheating.
A lot is being made by the fact that the audit report has been made by a renowned audit firm – KPMG. This is unfortunate and only serves to raise serious issues because KPMG in South Africa has been found complicit to grave irregularities in the professional conduct with the Gupta family. A number of senior officials were forced to resign from the firm.
The mere mention of KPMG therefore raises red flags, more so that they were appointed by the PIA which has been complicit in many of the irregularities that have been highlighted by Trustees.
It is for this reason that most Trustees feel that they should have been given the right to choose an independent auditor of their choice.
This audit was supposed to identify problems in the scheme and suggest remedies which must be discussed and implemented by the sitting Trustees before a general meeting can be called, but clearly it is now being intended to achieve a massive cover-up. This should not be allowed.
We think enough is enough. Many Zambians are already suffering; they are living in destitution because their pension benefits were messed up by fund managers and corrupt company managements.
The government cannot sit idle and watch the benefits of more Zambians disappear. Action must be taken now, not just against the culprits but for the recovery of all monies that people have invested in their future.
