C4 wants MACC to probe ‘IGP-linked’ firearms firm
“His family members should not be offering, at the same time, firearms and ammunition to citizens.”
C4 Executive Director Cynthia Gabriel added in the statement that the authorities concerned, in particular the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), should immediately initiate investigations in order to determine whether there was any “wrongdoing and abuse of power for personal gain”.
“One cannot help but question the blurring of professional boundaries between the father’s public responsibility and his daughter’s personal gain.”
The NGO also asked Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar to explain why he never chose to declare these details. “By not doing so, there’s an evident impression of abuse of power that will lend to a further plunge in public trust.”
C4 was expressing its “deep concern” about the recent revelation regarding gun permits and gun sales in Malaysia, implicating Khalid and his daughter.
It noted that documents have surfaced online, exposing a firearms and ammunition company owned by majority shareholder Juwiza Khalid, apparently the daughter of the IGP, and a minority shareholder named Mohd Isa Hussin, reportedly the IGP’s brother-in-law. The company was named as Nilai Arms & Ammunitions.
C4 refers to Article 8(5) of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), which Malaysia has signed and ratified, and states that:
Each State Party shall endeavour, where appropriate and in accordance with the fundamental principles of its domestic law, to establish measures and systems requiring public officials to make declarations to appropriate authorities regarding, inter alia, their outside activities, employment, investments, assets and substantial gifts or benefits from which a conflict of interest may result with respect to their functions as public officials.
It is important to note that despite the IGP not directly owning the company, he is indirectly and closely linked to the company, argued Gabriel. “This leads to worrying questions about his credibility in issuing gun permits and safeguarding public interest amidst his family’s personal gain.”
The father-daughter and permit-sales link raises security concerns, she added, as weapons procurement goes beyond ordinary conflict of interest for personal gain and involves national security and public safety. “This worrying trend of ostensibly dubious linkages between board of directors and people of high-ranking power has severely affected the democratic health and economic integrity of the country.”
There is an obvious and severe lack of transparency in corporate and government dealings, she summed up.
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