A SERIES of revelations on the misappropriations of funds, abuse of power, corruption and cover-ups by government agencies and government-linked companies are a cause for serious concern.

The amounts involved are a few times larger than even the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal and include, among others, misappropriation of funds, false declarations of profit, padded earnings, covering up losses, bad investments and dubious land deals.

Investment companies, agriculture development agencies, charities, even religious-based funds were not spared from the greedy, dishonest fingers of politically-connected people. Malaysians watched as charge after charge were filed in court, and police report after police report lodged by the these agencies, against their former management executives.

It’s all well and good, and indeed, why a new government was voted into power in the first place – to clean up the mistakes and misdeeds of the previous ones.

But technically speaking, apart from a few positions on top in these agencies and corporations that changed after the last elections, the entire management of these bodies remained the same. Members of the board also usually comprise senior civil servants, representatives from related ministries and statutory bodies, corporate and professional leaders and other prominent individuals.

It seems strange that a few bumbling politicians were able to pull the wool over the eyes of these many people. Apart from the Board itself, audit committees, boards of governance and other integrity checkpoints were also in place, and most of these bodies, like regular corporations, should include a whistle-blower protection policy, mechanisms to raise discrepancies and so on.

In the case of one government-linked agency, allegedly false profits and dividends were declared for four years in a row.

In another, losses in the billions were uncovered on land deals that may not have underwent full due diligence prior to being executed.

These are not small transactions that could have been carried out with a stroke of a pen and hidden under a pile of documents. These involved commercial, legal, finance and other teams, all with their own safeguards and operating procedures. Policies and people who did not manage to protect the stakeholders, who depended on a new government’s political will to go after the wrongdoers, before springing into action.

The same applies to the many enforcement agencies, who prior to May 2018, found nearly nothing wrong with 1MDB, going so far as to helping to organize roadshows along those lines, and going after anyone who spoke up about it. These are public servants who are accountable to the public.

The same actors, the same offences, the same evidence, the same people shouting from the mountaintop for some action to be taken.

All it took was a shift in political power, and the same agencies and same people suddenly uncovered barrels of evidence?

An overhaul of attitude is required, to safeguard Malaysians against people who cheat them- and it shouldn’t matter if the people involved are holding the reins of power, in fact that should only serve as even more reason to pursue action against them.

If the new government is serious about tackling corruption and avoiding a repeat of these gross violations of public trust, and if the agencies involved themselves are interested at all in restoring public confidence in their now sullied and tarred reputations, they should both push for removing or at least drastically reducing political appointments in these agencies. Political appointees should be qualified and professional and not recipients of rewards as part of the old system of largesse.

The role of GLCs is to generate revenue for the country and serve as the main engine of the economic growth for the nation, not as a power base to build up one’s political influence at the cost of the people’s interests. – December 12, 2018.

* Emmanuel Joseph firmly believes that Klang is the best place on Earth, and that motivated people can do far more good than any leader with motive.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.