The Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) director-general, Datuk Zulkipli Mat Noor should appear before the Parliamentary Select Committee on Integrity to clear all doubts that he is qualified to continue to helm the anti-corruption agency.
I will propose at today’s meeting of the Parliamentary Select Committee that Zulkipli be summoned to appear at an emergency meeting to respond to various serious allegations which had been made against him, ranging from corruption to sexual crimes, which must not remain unrebutted so as to salvage the credibility, legitimacy and authority of the ACA.
If Zulkipli is not prepared to appear before the Parliamentary Select Committee to establish his integrity in an emergency meeting, he must be removed as the ACA head. The Cabinet should put this item on the top of its agenda at its meeting tomorrow.
Malaysiakini yesterday reported these allegations which were filed last year by former ACA officer Mohamad Ramli Manan to the then inspector-general of police Mohd Bakri Omar.
In the July 4, 2006 report, Ramli named the ACA chief – who is a former top cop – and referred to him as ‘B1’.
“As you are aware, B1 was a member of your police force and his last appointment there was as Sarawak chief police officer. It has come to the knowledge of the ACA that B1 was a very corrupt senior police officer and had amassed substantial property and assets through corrupt practices,” he told Mohd Bakri in his report.
Ramli claimed that in 1997 – when Zulkipli was Johor police chief – the ACA had then learnt that he was “in possession of properties disproportionate to his known source of income” and had indulged in “immoral and criminal” activities.
Apart from this, Ramli also disclosed that the police had allegedly investigated Zulkipli in connection with a sexual crime following a report filed by a housewife with the Dang Wangi police station in Kuala Lumpur.
Following this report, he said the housewife had also filed additional reports with the police in Negri Sembilan’s Mambau and Kuala Lumpur’s Segambut as well as Dang Wangi for alleged assault and use of criminal force.
“There were also evidence of interference by B1 in the course of the police investigation wherein witnesses were threatened not to cooperate,” said Ramli.
Ramli also claimed that the ACA director-general owned several business interests and properties, including six houses in Pagoh, Johor.
He said the ACA learnt that the police had investigated Zulkipli for allegedly misusing government vehicles to carry out regular checks on these properties and business interests.
According to the report, these allegations were well-known in the police circle and several police officers had also offered evidence of B1’s corrupt activities to the Police Royal Commission two years ago.
“As a senior ACA officer, I have to categorically state that B1’s continued presence in the civil service, notably in ACA, whose main duty is to eradicate corruption, is a security threat to the country,” the report added.
Ramli expressed hope that the police would launch a thorough investigation into the allegations.
In the final paragraph of his report, the former ACA officer stated that it was on record that he had informed the relevant authorities, including the organisation he had worked for, regarding these allegations since 2003. However, these were ignored.
“I have to state that this is my last act of national duty since I am going into compulsory retirement. The ACA being a very important public institution should be supported by all and sundry and see that it discharges its national duty in the best interest of the public and country,” said Ramli, who retired soon after he filed the report.
The ‘first information report’ which was also sent to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the attorney-general, the auditor-general and director-general of the civil service, was made public yesterday by the chairperson of Movement for Democracy and Anti-Corruption (Gerak) Ezam Mohd Nor at a press conference yesterday.
If the allegations are true, this guy should be removed immediately.
But what troubles me even more is if the allegations are true, then what the hell was the PM, IGP, AG and all the others who were given the report and had the responsibility to act on it just sat on the report and did nothing? It is either the height of dereliction of duty and to my mind, a worse crime than those alleged to have been committed by Zulkipli. Alternatively, it raises the question. Were they afraid to act and if so why? This whole episode stinks to kingdom come.
“Altantuny” should be corrected as “Altantuya”
The charge does not appear baseless though the person making the allegations may have credibility issues.
This is a public indictment of the Prime Minister himself who appoints the head of the ACA after consultation with the Home Minister – or is the Home Minister also the PM?? It is an abuse of process apparently.
It also calls into question the practice of appointing ex-police officers to head the ACA.
…//…If the allegations are true, this guy should be removed immediately…//….per Cinapek. Yes but the question is how and by waht procedure to investigate and determine if allegations are true or otherwise, without jettisoning due process of law to which Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) director-general, Datuk Zulkipli Mat Noor is equally entitled.
First of all, it is agreed that in light of such grave allegations being made in public against Zulkipli, it is imperative that action be taken by the government, if the Prime Minister’s National Integrity Plan and Agenda is not to be made a mockery of.
The proposal of the Parliamentary Select Committee (“PSCâ€Â) that Zulkipli be summoned to appear at an emergency meeting to respond to various serious allegations is interesting. “If Zulkipli is not prepared to appear before the Parliamentary Select Committee to establish his integrity in an emergency meeting, he must be removed as the ACA head†– per YB LKS. Rightly the PSC should take on an issue of great public importance as the present case.
But I assume there are some technical problems that must first be addressed and resolved.
First, can you just use any existing PSC to summon Zulkipli to answer the allegations? Existing Select Committees were formed to investigate into very specific other issues defined by terms of reference of their formation. Is it necessary then for Zulkipli’s case for another Select Committee to be appointed by a resolution of either or both Houses of Parliament setting out the term of reference to summon Zulkipli for questioning with a view to determining whether there are broad grounds to proceed further action against him ; if so, does the Barisan Whip (discipline rules) prevent the BN’s representatives from supporting LKS/an opposition’s motion to form a new PSC for this purpose?
Second, the integrity of select committee’s proceedings depends on compositi summon of its members so that it becomes necessary to ask whether members of the various political parties including Opposition parties are represented in the PSC.
Another question is what exactly can a PSC do – does it operate as a quasi-judicial body to enquire and determine whether there is a prima facie case to take action against Zulkipli ? If so is it necessary for such a PSC to have legally parliamentarians to sit in or to co-opt assistance of retired judges of repute? Does such a body have to follow the rules of evidence like a court of law?
Whatever the determination of such a proposed select committee, I assume that Zulkipli has rights to due process of law which will go through three distinct processes : (a) a proper investigation of the evidence relating to the allegations and (b) a formal charge being made by our Attorney General office if it feels that outcome of investigations support a prima facie case; and (c) a public court trial.
Here the mere issue is who does the investigation and police work as per (a)?
I assume that an oversight body like a parliamentary select committee has no resources to do a thorough investigation like ACA or police (PDRM).
It is ordinary in cases of corruption allegations for the ACA to investigate but here there is an unprecedented case of the head of ACA himself being implicated – so which body will investigate him – can the ACA? Not likely.
It does not seem right or desirable for ACA to do so for if the ACA were to do so, it will entail its director general being suspended pending outcome of investigation to be now conducted by another acting director general whose ACA officers or at least some assigned to assist in the investigation, may owe sufficient allegiance to the person investigated to compromise the independence of incestigations.
Then next, can the police (PDRM) investigate the allegations? Can the police pretend it has the expertise, experience and specialty like the ACA to conduct corruption allegations, which all along are within the purview and jurisdiction of the ACA?
If there were a stumbling block in (a) that does not get resolved, how do we proceed further through processes (b) and (c) in Zulkipli’s case without prejudicing due process of law?
strange isnt it that the PM would even extend this guy’s contract when he is shrouded with so many allegations. No investigation was carried out. As if someone now is holdings his balls and command his every move and action. No wonder ACA is a toothless tiger bcos the head is deemed to be rotten. End of the day the same verdict will be applied. Semuanya OK!
Very troubling, very troubling. I am sick of it all.
“I will propose at today’s meeting of the Parliamentary Select Committee that Zulkipli be summoned to appear at an emergency meeting to respond to various serious allegations which had been made against him, ranging from corruption to sexual crimes, which must not remain unrebutted so as to salvage the credibility, legitimacy and authority of the ACA.”
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This guy (Zulkipli Mat Noor) has successfully protected a lot of UMNO goons from being prosecuted. And now, it will be UMNO’s turn to have him protected.
In other words, Uncle Kit, you will be facing a lot of obstacles. Hope you will succeed in doing so.
The leadership ‘integrity’ of an anti-corruption body is definitely important, of course.
But the ‘effectiveness’ of the body is even more important.
At the moment, the ACA itself isn’t quite credible in the eyes of the public like myself when it has to take cues from the ruling party – UMO (United Maggots Organisation), before it can investigate UMO members like Mat Deros.
Independent body? No. Corruption is soaring.
Another despicable story out in the public eye.
If he has been protecting UMNO goons, then there is no chance that justice will be served. The only thing that Uncle Kit will get out of this is to further discredit the BN government, or will he?
We have a lousy government and so we have substandard civil service.Therefore the ACA that we have is also below everybody’s expectation.So what can we expect from ‘Bolehland’?
It is interesting to note that in a speech at a Dap Ceramah in Bintulu, Sarawak on 20 May, 2001, Uncle Kit had, inter alia, said as follows:
The fly in the ointment is that the ACA has become an even greater disappointment since a new director-general was appointed to take over the ACA from Datuk Zaki Husain.
It is now more than seven weeks since the former Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Zulkifli Mat Noor was appointed to head the ACA, and in the past seven weeks, the ACA seems to have disappeared totally from public consciousness.
I do not know Zulkifli but believe that he must be a conscientious policeman who is a very obedient servant of the government of the day. But these are not the qualities we want from the director-general of the ACA, who must be prepared not to be an obedient servant of the government if there are clear cases of corruption and other malpractices against government officials and the political masters.
This is why in the history of the ACA for over three decades, no policeman had ever been appointed to head the ACA, and why the appointment of Zulkifli to head the anti-corruption agency is not an encouraging sign or good news that Malaysians can look forward to an inspiring ACA war against corruption.
It is equally interesting to note what Tun Haniff Omar said in his article “What needs to be done†in the Star on 8 October, 2006:
He (Tan Sri Musa Hassan) was right in hitting the headline recently, encouraging the public and his own officers and men to report police corruption to him because corruption, by all accounts, had been allowed to entrench itself.
Corruption allows criminals to get away with murder and plunder. Corruption disrobes a country of its defences. Just think about it. Why has the Anti Corruption Agency not been more successful when there is so much corruption, I don’t really know.
Have they got the right men there? A successful ACA can make an IGP’s job so much easier. If he didn’t have to spend an enormous amount of time catching his corrupt officers, he would have so much more efficient resources to service the public.
That’s why I say corruption is now our Enemy No. 1!
And as the Prime Minister had himself, in a speech to the Kuala Lumpur Society for Transparency and Integrity on 6 October, 2004, said:
…..no matter how good our institutions, legal framework, rules and regulations may be, they will only serve a limited purpose if the people who work within those rules and regulations are not imbued with a sense of values. Integrity and character come from within. The moral fibre of our people is the most important determinant of our success.
Indeed, in the words of Tun Haniff Omar, “all systems will come to a nought if they are manned by the wrong personsâ€Â. So what could be the reason that we have come to a nought in our so-called fight against corruption? Corruption is soaring and we are tumbling down the Corruption Perception Index. This country is going to the dogs. Prime Minister, please do something.
Shocking shit! This news really shocked the shit out of me!!!
From Malaysiakini:
“….why the premier had extended Zulkipli’s tenure in 2005.
“There are enough grounds to be very suspicious of why the contract was extended when the allegations had surfaced years before.”
Undergrad2 said:
“This is a public indictment of the Prime Minister himself who appoints the head of the ACA after consultation with the Home Minister – or is the Home Minister also the PM?? It is an abuse of process apparently.”
Malaysians – please wake up! We can’t afford to have a PM who’s been sleeping through all these!!!
I need a double dose of aspirin. JUst can’t take this shit anymore.
Excuse me.
Answers are needed for these Qs. Maybe Jeffrey can help.
1. What is the statute that creates the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA). Is this body created by statute? Or is it a regular government department?
2. What is the procedure followed when appointing the head of the Agency. Is there any constitutional safeguard to ensure that the head of the ACA is not arbitrarily dismissed or easily removed when he falls foul of the party that runs the government?
3. What is the criteria for his appointment. Who occupied the position of head of the agency since independence – and where were they drawn from?
4. Who does the head of this agency report to?
5. What is the resume of the current head of the ACA?
“Why it’s so hard to end corruption in Indonesia†– the Star, 27 May, 2006. Extracts:
Why does the practice of corruption remain rampant in Indonesia?
You can make a long list of reasons. For example, the people are used to corruption, they are permissive.
Perhaps it is because the government is not serious in its efforts to fight corruption.
But there’s another reason why it is so difficult to fight corruption. It’s because you can’t clean a dirty floor with a dirty broom.
Those who want to fight corruption must first get clean themselves. It’s impossible to combat corruption if many police officers, lawyers, prosecutors and judges are also crooked.
There’s a joke among Indonesians that if you lose a chicken and you report it to the police, you’ll also lose a goat. This is because if you want the police to follow up on your report and find out who stole your chicken, you have to give them some money, because they’ll argue that they don’t have enough resources to carry out their duties.
Law enforcers and adjudicators must get clean themselves before they can fight corruption to win. Otherwise the anticorruption effort will fail, and Indonesia will retain its status as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.
So are our ACA, the police, the legal profession, the proecutors and judiciary up to the mark?
AAB and his many cronies know very well: the easiest way to make the ACA chief powerless and toothless is to get an ACA chief that is equally corrupted!
That is the only motive to pick Zoo-Kipi as chief in the very first place!
How can Zoo takes actions against UMO and its corrupted cronies if Zoo’s [deleted] are in the hands of such cronies?
As chief of ACA, he is not only needs to be crystal clean, he must look clean too!
Without such basic criteria, how can him be made chief of ACA?
Hornbill:I need a double dose of aspirin. JUst can’t take this shit anymore.”
You’re clearly an endangered specie. Try not to take too much pain killer. It’s bad for you liver. Baby aspirin 81mg daily should be enough.
But the PM should be on life support.
ACA is a government department and the Boss of this is a clearly a civil servant and the present guy being talked about is a policeman whose tenure has been extended and seconded that’s all. He answers the government of the day and directed by them to.
Opposition parties like DAP had tried previously, to bring this department under the direct purview of parliament, but couldn’t. Aha!
the ruling party can’t allow an ombudsman to watch over them.
Fascinating tales..
Undergrad2 said //But the PM should be on life support.//
No, no, no! For brain dead people, the only logic thing and most humane thing to do is to remove the life support totally!
It is high time to let Anwar, Kit, Karpal and the gang to take over the helm!
The ACA should be independent reporting all its findings to a special committee headed by a former judge – rather than the Prime Minister or Home Minister. Anything less is a mockery of the system.
The committee makes recommendations directly to the AG. The AG answers to a special select parliamentary committee – not the Prime Minister.
Quote:
“The ACA should be independent reporting all its findings to a special committee headed by a former judge – rather than the Prime Minister or Home Minister. Anything less is a mockery of the system.”
Well, be careful about certain former judges. Datuk Syed Ahmad Idid would be alright.
Police officers are less suitable when compared to former members of the Bench. Police officers are not required to undergo the same rigorous screening as members of the Bench are before their appointments could be confirmed. Senior members of the judicial service for that matter would make a better choice than police officers.
Sometimes it is forgotten that extension of Zulkipli’s tenure in 2005 could have been done by the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs or Internal Security who has been delegated the task of review by the Home Minister.
The review and the actual decision may have been taken at a lower level but to suggest that it could have been done without the PM knowing before hand, is to suggest that the PM is a nincompoop – or almost.