Kuala lumpur: The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) has emphasized its dedication to maintaining the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) as the nation's most trusted institution by addressing any misconduct and breaches of integrity.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Defence Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin highlighted that any issues affecting the MAF's reputation could have serious implications for the country. Consequently, the ministry has initiated measures to preserve the armed forces' credibility. Khaled Nordin reaffirmed MINDEF's and MAF's commitment to restoring their reputation and cooperating fully with authorities such as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
In efforts to improve governance, the ministry is enhancing its procurement and implementation processes. This includes revising the asset procurement procedure to be more transparent and integrating digitalisation and artificial intelligence to minimize potential manipulation risks.
Mohamed Khaled also reassured that the temporary freeze on procurement would not impact the MAF's readiness and operations. This measure has been complemented by new guidelines from the Ministry of Finance (MOF), which were issued within three weeks.
On January 16, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim ordered a temporary freeze on MAF and Royal Malaysia Police procurement decisions linked to corruption issues. This decision followed controversies involving past military leaders accused of corruption and abuse of power.
Under the new governance framework set by the MOF, conditions include cross-ministerial checks and enhanced technical and financial evaluation processes with a more competent and diverse membership. Furthermore, procurement involving overseas original equipment manufacturers must be conducted through international open tenders.
Mohamed Khaled further explained that procurements via quotations, ranging between RM300,000 and RM500,000 for supplies and services, and between RM300,000 and RM3 million for works, must be finalized by the procurement board, chaired by the ministry's deputy secretary-general.