Nafas denies sponsoring minister's programme

The National Farmers’ Organisation (Nafas) today denied allegations that it helped fund Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mohamad Sabu’s programme with the local community in his Kota Raja parliamentary constituency.

Nafas general manager Muhammad Faris Arriffin confirmed that a request from the Kota Raja parliamentary office to Nafas for contributions - dated May 3, 2023 - had been rejected.

“All funding applications must adhere to strict standard operating procedures in place. In this case, my directive was clear: ‘Please manage according to the rules and provisions.’

“I always ensure SOP compliance in all financial matters.

“In this instance, no payment was made, demonstrating our commitment to principles of transparency and accountability,” Faris (above) said.

He added that direct funding to parliamentary service centres was previously practised, but is no longer continued under Nafas’ new management.

Earlier, Faris, who is also the Federal Territories Amanah youth chief, was asked to comment on two documents circulating on social media that allegedly pertain to the donation request.

RM20,000

The first document was a letter from the minister’s political secretary Yuhaizad Abdullah, to Faris, dated May 3, 2023.

In the letter, Yuhaizad requested that Nafas provide contributions to the minister’s programme in Kota Raja. According to the letter, the event is scheduled to take place on May 6, 2023.

Faris subsequently directed Nafas’ human resources division in the same letter, adding a memo from the general manager: “Please manage according to the rules and provisions.”

He also wrote a note - RM20k (RM20,000) - in the same memo.

Meanwhile, the second document was a Nafas payment request form dated May 5, 2023.

Based on the form, Nafas’ corporate division requested a payment of RM20,000 to be disbursed to the Kota Raja parliamentary service centre.

There was also a handwritten note stating, “Mafi fund allocation.”

Mafi is short for the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, now known as the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry.

Compliance with SOP

Malaysiakini has reviewed both documents, but Nafas only confirmed the authenticity of the letter from the minister’s political secretary to the general manager without commenting on the authenticity of the payment request form.

Faris said the farmers’ association’s parent body views the unauthorised dissemination of confidential documents seriously.

“We take the unauthorised dissemination of confidential documents seriously and will pursue legal action to protect the reputation and integrity of Nafas from any baseless slander campaigns.

“We affirm that all Nafas transactions consistently comply with the SOPs approved by the board and are audited to ensure transparency, in line with the Farmers Organisation Act, to safeguard the interests of farmer members.

“Although we are confident that all Nafas actions are based on regulatory standards, we are committed to providing full cooperation with all ongoing internal reviews,” he added.

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