Saturnia Trustees reject fishy AGM

Mon, 19 Feb 2018 09:35:44 +0000

By NATION REPORTER

The Trustees of the Saturnia Pension Trust Fund have rejected the rescheduled 2016 Annual General meeting because they have not yet been given the forensic audit report which was ordered by then minister of finance Mr. Felix Mutati in June 2017 and which has been listed as the last item on the proposed AGM scheduled for February 28, 2018.

“We cannot hold an elective annual general meeting before the sitting Trustees are given an opportunity to scrutinize and respond to the contents of the KPMG audit which was ordered by the minister of finance,” the Trustees said.

“There may be some disagreeable items in the report and we should be given an opportunity to respond and put a properly convened AGM in place,” they said.

The Trustees insisted that the audit into the governance of the Saturnia Regna Pension Trust Fund was ordered by the minister following concerns they (the Trustees) raised following the revelation of a lot of anomalies contained in the Pension and Insurance Authority Inspection report of April 2016 which included unauthorized externalization of $40 million of pension funds and the illegal registration of titles for fund properties in Saturnia Regna Pension Registered Trustees instead of the Fund.

The Trustees also want a thorough investigation to be conducted into the bank accounts of Saturnia Regna Trustees Limited a private company with no relationship to the fund as well as into another unknown bank account called Saturnia Pension Scheme into which pension contributions have been illegally deposited.

“There are too many serious anomalies which must be investigated before an AGM can be held. This whole thing is a cover up exercise to remove the sitting Trustees who are calling for transparency and install a new board of unknowledgeable people,” they said.

In what appears to be a desperate bid to cover up disclosed illegal activities, the Saturnia Regna Pension Scheme and the PIA have rescheduled the 2016 Annual General Meeting for February 28, 2018 giving the members only fourteen days-notice against the rules which stipulate a notice of 21 days.

Communication prior to the circulation of the notice of the AGM alleges that former minister of finance Felix Mutati had pressurized the Pension and Insurance Authority (PIA) to convene the AGM.

“Notice is hereby given that the rescheduled Saturnia Regna Pension Fund Annual General Meeting in respect of the year ended 31 December 2016 will be held on Wednesday 28 February 2018, at Taji Pamodzi Hotel, Lusaka at 09:30 hours,” reads the notice.

“Note: Pursuant to the powers contained in the Pensions Scheme Regulations Act (PSRA, 1996 as amended), the Pensions and Insurance Authority (PIA) has granted a special dispensation to reduce notice period of twenty-one (21) days to allow the Saturnia Regna Pension Fund (SRPF) Annual General Meeting to proceed as notified.”

But the concerned Trustees have categorically stated that the PIA had no power to alter the rules and order any pension scheme to hold an illegal meeting

The 2016 Saturnia Regna Pension Fund AGM was postponed pending the release of the ministerial audit report which was ordered by the then Minister of Finance Minister Mr. Felix Mutati and the Trustees are wondering why the PIA and the Fund Managers and Administrators are rushing into holding a meeting before the audit report which was conducted by KPMG is released.

The panic to hold the meeting is evident in the correspondence that has flown between Benefits Consulting Services Limited and the chairman of the Board of Trustees Review Namanje.

On February 12, 2018, Bryson Hamanzuka, the Chief Executive Officer wrote to Namanje informing him that notice is being sent after dispensation has been granted by the regulator pursuant to the powers under the Pension Scheme Regulation Authority allowing for shorter notice period than the requisite 21 days provided for under the SRPTF Trust Deed.

The following day, Namanje wrote to the other Trustees requesting them to buy into holding the AGM and come up with suggestions and recommendations of how the meeting should proceed.

“The PIA is in a hurry to have this meeting convened. I asked Bryson Bryson to tell the PIA to give us up to mid-March 2018 but the response was that we should have the AGM on 28 February,” Namanje wrote.

On the evening of the same day, Namanje wrote to the other Trustees informing them that he was called by the PIA Registrar Mr. Martin Libinga to “specifically talk about the AGM.”

“He categorically stated that we need to have the AGM on the 28th February as he has been directed by the Minister of Finance. From the tone of my conversation with him, I could sense a lot of pressure,” Namanje wrote.

The circulated agenda for the proposed of AGM is an openly confounded attempt to remove the sitting Trustees before discussing important items. It has listed the election of new Trustees before the presentation of the annual financial statements and the all-important Independent Audit Report by KPMG is listed as the last but one item at number nine,

Other crucial items which had been raised by the Trustees in their report for 2016; Trust Deed Amendment, Creation of an independent secretariat, Appointment of a Property Manager and Trustees Expenses and Allowances policy are listed under any other business. Conspicuously missing from the agenda is the appointment of an independent investment adviser.