11th April 2021
DO NOT COUNTERMAND IGP’S DECISION TO TRANSFER HIS MEN
The latest news reports alleging Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin had withheld the transfer order of senior police officers is very disturbing. It was also reported that IGP Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador had issued the order for the transfer of the senior officers prior to his going on leave.
If the allegation is true, then the home minister has interfered and countermanded the orders of the IGP and has stepped beyond the bounds of his authority. The IGP has prerogatives in the command and control of the police force and all the officers and men under him. That includes disciplining and transfer of his officers. Section 4 (1) of the Police Act 1967 empowers the IGP in “the control and direction of the Force and all other persons appointed or engaged for police duties, and who shall have all the powers conferred on a Commissioner or a Chief Police Officer”.
The Police Act is very clear with regards to the IGP’s authority in disciplinary control exercisable. Transferring of the officers on disciplinary ground is within his jurisdiction. Suruhanjaya Pasukan Polis (Police Force Commission), which is chaired by the home minister, has jurisdiction over disciplinary and transfer matters only if there is no other law that covers this matter. The Police Act gives that power to the IGP. As such, Patriot feels no politician, including the home minister, should interfere in the IGP’s authority to discipline and transfer his men.
The case of the Macau scandal and also police cartel is still fresh in the national news. It was reported that some police officers were involved in organised crime. IGP Tan Sri Hamid Bador has been trying hard to clear the image of the police force since he assumed office in 2019. He has the gall to publicly confront the rot that has been happening in the force for some years. The people applaud his action. All cabinet members, including the home minister, must support him.
Stopping the transfer of officers for disciplinary reasons that was already decided by the IGP is an act of bad faith and contravening the Police Act. Any attempt to derail what he is trying to do to clean the image of the force is seen as a sabotage and against the will of the people.
BG Dato Mohamed Arshad Raji (Rtd)
President,
Persatuan Patriot Kebangsaan
www.patriotkebangsaan.org.my
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