KOTA KINABALU: With his court case out of the way, Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin has now set his sights on another victory.
The Sabah Umno chief, who was cleared of corruption charges by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Thursday (Sept 7), said he could now fully concentrate on ushering a win for the party in the next Sabah elections which were due in September 2025.
"I am now more focused on the party especially in Sabah because we see that time is short to strengthen the party," said the Kinabatangan MP, during a Sabah Umno thanksgiving event here on Saturday (Sept 9).
Bung Moktar said he was planning several programmes to meet grassroots leaders and to further structure Sabah Umno.
"This is so that we are really ready to face the polls, especially to ensure that Umno returns to rule Sabah.
"This is important as I see that the state is lagging too far behind when compared to other states when in fact Sabah is a state that has potential and can be developed more.
"The people of Sabah deserve better in terms of infrastructure, amenities and economy," he said, adding this was one of his priorities so that Umno returned to its glory days besides developing the state.
Also present were Sabah Umno secretary Datuk Jafry Ariffin, Sabah Umno treasurer Datuk Seri Salleh Tun Said Keruak, Sabah Umno Youth chief Sufian Abdul Karim and Sabah Umno Wanita chief Senator Datuk Noraini Idris.
The High Court had allowed the revision application made by Bung Moktar and his wife Datin Seri Zizie Izette Abdul Samad to reverse an order for them to enter their defence in an RM2.8mil corruption case.
Judge Azhar Abdul Hamid said that it was a fit and proper case for the Court to exercise its revisionary power under Section 323 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).
On May 3, 2019, Bung Moktar was charged with two charges of accepting bribes of RM2.2mil and RM262,500 as an inducement to obtain Felcra approval to invest RM150mil in Public Mutual unit trusts.
He was alleged to have accepted bribes from Public Mutual Berhad's investment agent Madhi Abdul Hamid through Zizie Izette at Public Bank's Taman Melawati Branch in Kuala Lumpur between 12.30pm and 5pm on June 12, 2015.
Bung Moktar was also charged with receiving RM337,500 in cash from Unit Amanah consultant, Norhaili Ahmad Mokhtar, under the name of Zizie Izette for the same reason and place on June 19, 2015.
Zizie Izette, meanwhile, faced three charges of abetting her husband over the matter at the same place, date and time.
The sessions court had earlier ordered the former Sabah deputy chief minister and Zizie Izette to enter their defence for the corruption charges.
Bung Moktar said the three basic necessities namely better roads, clean water supply and stable power supply were issues the Sabah government must resolve immediately.
Hence, he said, Sabah Umno would strive to ensure there would be an overflow of better infrastructure.
"It is not impossible for us to develop the Sabah if the state government has a high commitment to resolve these outstanding issues," he added.
