PIA frustrates Saturnia trustees meeting
Registrar and the Trustees feel very strongly that the situation is frustrating their efforts to monitor the performance of the Fund Manager and Fund administrator.
“We the Trustees are the owners of the money and it is unfair that we must seek permission to review the performance of our own fund,” the sources complained.
The Board of Trustees for Saturnia Regna Pension Fund have been locked in battles with the Fund Manager Benefits Consulting Services Limited and the Fund Administrator African Life Financial Services over the governance of the Fund.
The two service providers are commonly owned by Menel Management Services whose shareholders are Munakupya Hantuba, Hakainde Hichilema and Valentine Chitalu and they are partnered by Botswana Insurance Fund Managers.
The Trustees feel that the common ownership of Bencon and Aflife has led to serious conflict of interest and want to appoint a new Fund Manager. But Bencon and Aflife have resisted resulting in litigation. Injunctions by Aflife and Mr. Hantuba were thrown out by the Lusaka High Court and the tenure of office of the Trustees was validated by the two judgements.
However, Bencon and Aflife seem to have the full backing of the PIA which for a long time has failed to implement its own directives issued to rectify irregular and unusual practices by the managers and administrators.
Meanwhile, members of the Board of Trustees of the Saturnia Regna Pension Fund have complained of intimidation by the Fund Manager Benefits Consulting Services Limited who believe that they own the pension scheme as the PIA Licence lists them as the sponsors of the Fund.