Fri, 23 Feb 2018 07:57:13 +0000
By NATION REPORTER
THE controversial multi-employer pension scheme Saturnia Regna Pension Trust Fund may not exist after all.
A search at the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) shows that the Trust does not exist and therefore has no Tax Payer Identification Number (TPIN) which is a mandatory requirement for all entities in the country whether they are Trusts or Limited Companies.
No institution can operate without an identification from the ZRA. It is therefore not clear how the Pensions and Insurance Authority (PIA) has registered the fund and how indeed banks have been transacting with it.
A search at the Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA) revealed that a company named Saturnia Regna Pension Trust Limited existed.
This was owned by African Life Financial Services Zambia Limited with 240, 000, 000 shares and Botswana Insurance Fund Management with 80, 000, 000 shares.
But this is illegal.
According to the law, corporate trustees cannot have ownership, control and custodial powers over the assets of pension schemes.
The law dictates that members are the owners of the assets of the pension funds and elect individuals to sit on the Board of Trustees.
Meanwhile, other Articles of Association deposited at PACRA show that another company called Saturnia Regna Pension Trust Limited was incorporated in 2001. This is owned by African Life Financial Services (Z) Limited, Munankupya Hantuba and Ronie Preiris.
This company is registered by guarantee and is shared by African Life Financial Services (Z) Limited guaranteeing K240 million worth of shares with Munankupya Hantuba and Ronie Peiris guaranteeing K5 million shares each.
A search at the Ministry of Lands, confirmed that Saturnia Regna Pension Fund was registered as a corporate body under the name of Saturnia Regna Pension Fund registered Trustees on July 13, 1995 by late Anderson Mazoka, Edward Shamwana, David Caseldine, Darwin Kaluba, Pearl Siwale, Thierry Pflimlin and William Pearson
Three days ago, the Daily Nation wrote to the Fund Managers, Benefits Consulting Services Limited, requesting for the foundation documents for the fund.
However, the managers completely avoided tackling issues raised in the query but instead demanded for a public apology, correcting all the publications that the newspaper had written about the matter, failure to which, it would seek legal redress over the matter.
The multiple identities of the fund at one stage forced the PIA to order the transfer of 51 fund properties from Saturnia Regna Pension Trust Fund Registered Trustees to Saturnia Regna Pension Fund, but this has not been done to date.
Efforts to get the information from the new chairperson for the board of trustees, Mr Review Namanje also hit a snag as he said he did not have the documents and referred all queries to Benefit Consulting Services Limited secretariat saying they were the custodians of such information.
“I cannot give you anything because I am not the custodian of those documents. The custodians of the documents are the secretariat and the administrators who are Benefit Consulting Services Limited. So, even if you call me now to ask for the documents now, I cannot send them to you unless I go to Benefits Consulting who are the custodians. Otherwise, I would have helped you,” Mr. Namanje said.
