Tan Sri Ali Hamsa says 6 officers from two ministries facing disciplinary investigation due to shortcomings discovered in federal audit

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Tan Sri Ali Hamsa says six officers from two ministries are facing disciplinary investigation due to their shortcomings discovered in last year's federal audit. ― Picture by Saw Siow Feng

Six from two ministries facing disciplinary probe over 2015 audit, Ali Hamsa says

MalayMailOnline

PUTRAJAYA, May 24 ― Putrajaya has found that disciplinary proceedings should be carried out on six officers from two ministries due to their shortcomings discovered in last year's federal audit, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Ali Hamsa said today.

Ali said this was the conclusion of the government's six special investigation committees that were set up to investigate 10 punitive reprimands on four ministries named in the Auditor-General’s (A-G) Report 2015 Series 1.

“Based on the investigation, there is basis in two reprimands involving the management  of procurement and services at the Civil Defence Department, the Prime Minister's Department; and the implementation of the Malaysian Immigration System (myIMMs), Home Ministry to initiate disciplinary proceedings that involve six officers,” he told reporters here.

Of the six officers, four are of grade 48 and above, while the remaining two are ranked 44 and below, he said.

He said the investigations on the eight other reprimands showed there were no “elements of embezzlement, power abuse, wrongdoing or negligence in the carrying out of duties”, but instead required improvement in systems, rules and procedures.

The probe by the six special committees was conducted to obtain evidence and to identify the officers involved in the alleged wrongdoings. The officers will also face possible disciplinary action or criminal charges if they are found to be guilty of negligence or any other wrongdoing.

On top of the 10 punitive reprimands on the 10 ministries, 33 other punitive reprimands were also issued in the A-G’s report on two federal statutory bodies, seven state governments and two federal companies.

The action to be taken on these 33 punitive reprimands will be decided at the feedback committee on the Auditor-General's Report, he said.

Out of the 708 corrective reprimands, the government has acted on 280 of them to improve its procedures, while action on 428 of them is still ongoing, he said.

The first series of the A-G's report on its audit last year saw corrective reprimands amounting to 94.3 per cent of total reprimands issued, while punitive reprimands was 5.7 per cent.