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Antigraft champion linked to e-ID scam
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Former home minister Gamawan Fauzi answers questions from journalists after he was questioned as a witness by investigators of the Corruption Eradication Commission in Jakarta on Oct. 12. (-/-)
O
nce praised as an anticorruption icon and a model local bureaucrat who had made it onto the national political scene, former home minister Gamawan Fauzi has found himself at the center of a massive scandal involving corruption that has hampered the roll-out of the country’s electronic ID (e-ID) program.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) questioned him on Wednesday over the alleged embezzlement of Rp 2 trillion (US$154 million) from the project’s procurement budget in 2011 and 2012. His former aide Irman, the ministry’s former population and civil registry director, was previously named a suspect in the case.
The e-ID program is a government hallmark project that started during former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s administration. The program aims to centralize population registration nationwide and ease public service delivery, as well as preparations for elections.
The program has yet to get into full swing because of delays in its implementation caused by the alleged corruption. Many citizens still have not received their
e-IDs, which are also locally known as e-KTP.
The KPK first named a Home Ministry official handling the tendering of the project, Sugiarto, a suspect in April 2014, but the antigraft body was not at that time able to summons Gamawan because no chain of command existed between Gamawan and Sugiarto.
Muhammad Nazaruddin, a graft convict and former treasurer of Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party, who was notoriously known as the party’s “cash machine” for frequently rigging government projects for his personal and other party members’ gain, recently accused Gamawan of receiving US$2.5 million from the e-KTP project.
In a marathon interrogation on Sept. 29, Nazaruddin said Gamawan had to be named a suspect in the case because he (Nazaruddin) had submitted valid evidence to KPK investigators with regard to the transfer of $2.5 billion to Gamawan.
KPK spokesman Priharsa Nugraha said the antigraft body was focusing on the distribution of the Rp 2 trillion, including on the possibility that Gamawan, who had been in charge of the project at the Home Ministry, was among the recipients of the money.
“[The investigation is] to dig deeper into the alleged state losses in the case. The KPK is also looking at the budgeting, planning, procurement and bidding process of the project,” Priharsa said.
The antigraft body has raised the possibility that lawmakers and former lawmakers, including Golkar Party chief Setya Novanto, were also involved in the case.
After his seven-hour questioning, Gamawan denied that he had received money from the project. He claimed that the KPK only asked him about the procedures for the project tenders.
He said that it was wrong to point a finger at him for alleged corruption in the project because “it was me who asked the KPK to investigate the case”.
“Just prove it if I received [money from the project]. I have reported [Nazaruddin] to the Jakarta Police for his allegations. I don’t know anything [about the corruption plaguing the project]. Just ask the KPK about it,” Gamawan said, adding that he would likely be summoned again for further questioning.
A number of ministers in the Yudhoyono administration have been implicated in the rigging of government projects.
Three ministers — former religious affairs minister Suryadharma Ali, former youth and sports minister Andi Mallarangeng and former energy and mineral res minister Jero Wacik — have been convicted of corruption involving their ministries.
Former health minister Siti Fadilah Supari has been named a suspect for alleged corruption involving a procurement project undertaken while she was in office.
A career bureaucrat, Gamawan is known for his clean reputation. He received the Bung Hatta Anticorruption Award in 2004 when he served as Solok regent in West Sumatra.
When he was serving as West Sumatra governor during Yudhoyono’s second term in 2009, Gamawan was appointed home minister.
He also received a prestigious award in the category of best government practitioner from the Indonesian Government Science Community (MIPI) in 2010 for his achievements as home minister.
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