Two Sabah government officials deny Warisan links

From left Dr Chacho Bulah and Iman Ali.

KOTA KINABALU: Two Sabah district officers based in the east coast deny receiving money from Parti Warisan Sabah to become the party’s candidates in the next general election (GE14), as alleged in an article on a local blog.

Semporna district officer Dr Chacho Bulah and Lahad Datu district officer Iman Ali also lodged two police reports yesterday after the article went viral on social media.

Chacho, who is currently on leave, said he was deeply disappointed with whoever came up with the story which he said was totally unsubstantiated.

“I have not personally met Semporna MP Shafie Apdal since he formed Warisan except on one occasion when I attended his mother’s funeral.

“However, there was nothing political about it as I only went there as a government servant.

“At the same time, when my father-in-law, my wife and my mother passed away in the past year, he never bothered to send his condolence. He also did not come to see me nor did he send his people to meet up with me,” Chacho told FMT.

Chacho, whose daughter will be getting married soon, added that he also did not send any invitation to the former Umno vice-president nor to Sulabayan assemblyman Jaujan Sambakong.

He regretted the action of the blogger who cooked up the story and maintained his innocence on the matter.

He said he had been on leave with the intention to prepare for his daughter’s wedding and was shocked when he was told of the article.

“I have invited many YBs to the wedding and I want to assure everybody that this article is nothing but a lie and slander against me.

“Why would I want to become Warisan candidate? If it was BN, I wouldn’t say no,” he said.

Similarly, Iman also confirmed that he had lodged a police report and copies of the report had been sent to his superiors including the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

He maintained his innocence over the matter but will only comment about it after the Christmas holiday.

The article “Shafie Apdal beli dua Pegawai Daerah sebagai calon Parti Warisan” was published on SabahKini2.com on Friday.

The author, quoting a source, alleged that Shafie is in the process of recruiting several district officers in the Sabah east coast as he was concerned his party will be rejected by voters because most of the party members are dissatisfied former Umno leaders and members.

According to the article, Shafie proposed to spend RM7 million per division but it did not reveal how much he was alleged to be willing to pay Chacho and Iman.

This serious allegation had prompted both Chacho and Iman to decide to contact the MACC to clear the air and to avoid any misunderstanding.

The portal, in the past, had raised the ire of Warisan leaders over a series of unconfirmed reports about the party, particularly Shafie.

Checks revealed that the site was started over a month ago but those behind the website had so far managed to hide their identities.

At least two people have attempted to sue the owners but could not do so, mainly because they could not ascertain who is behind this site. -FMT