Delayed probe unsettles Saturnia trustees
TRUSTEES of the beleaguered Saturnia Regna Pension Fund have expressed fear over the outcome of the long-delayed investigation by KPMG into the governance of Zambia’s largest multi-employer pension which was ordered by the Minister of Finance Felix Mutati in June 2017.
And the Gallant Youths in Zambia (GYZ) have expressed doubt that KPMG, with its withdrawal from the Grenfell Tower inquiry in London and its at- tempt to withdraw a tax report from South African authorities, could still be trusted to provide a credible report on Saturnia which Government has been waiting for over a long time.
Last year, Mr. Mutati ordered for an audit into the governance of Saturnia Regna Pension Trust Fund following media revelations of conflict of interest, illegal and irregular activities of the pension fund manager and administrator.
In June last year, Mr. Mutati gave a 30-day ultimatum in which the audit was to be conducted and a report to be presented to him but almost a year later, the Saturnia report is still at large and the trustees have questioned the delay as no update on the progress had been made.
Some of the trustees spoken to yesterday expressed doubt that KPMG will do the right thing as they strongly feel the audit firm’s lack of engagement with them was a pointer to what will come out of their investigation.
“This case is likely to die a natural death mainly because the ministry that sanctioned this audit does not seem to be proactive on the matter yet we are talking about people’s benefits being at stake.
“With what KPMG did in South Africa where it withdrew the findings of a report on that country’s tax agency that was used as evidence in a police probe against Mr. Gordhan, we are very skeptical anything tangible will come out of this whole exercise,” one of the trustees said. And speaking to the Daily Nation over the same matter yesterday, GYZ executive director Henry Mulenga said the South African case and the Grenfell Tower inquiry in London in which KPMG announced that it was standing down from its role as project management advisor, raised a lot of questions.