KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 21): A Ministry of Finance (MOF) official told the High Court on Friday that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had no direct involvement in the evaluation committee’s final decision-making even though it had issued initial directives to evaluate contractors under the Jana Ekonomi Pemerkasaan Kontraktor Bumiputera Berwibawa (Jana Wibawa) programme.  

Datin Rosni Yusoff, the Secretary of the Finance Ministry’s Government Procurement Division, testified during re-examination that a clear distinction existed between receiving top-down instruction to assess candidate companies and the committee's internal scoring process.

In re-examination, when questioned by deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Noralis Mat with regard to her testimony where Rosni had agreed with defence counsel Chetan Jethwani that there was no PMO involvement in committee decisions.  

Noralis: Earlier when Mr Chetan asked [you] whether in making decisions within the committee which you chaired, there was no involvement or participation by the PMO... and you agreed?

Rosni: Yes, when decisions were made, the decisions made had no interference from the PMO. But the instructions we received to evaluate those companies came from the PMO through the Office of the Minister of Finance.

Rosni detailed how instructions originated from the PMO via memoranda routed to the office of the finance minister. The finance minister's office then minuted directives down to the procurement division, which subsequently passed them to the Jana Wibawa Contractor Evaluation Committee.

Rosni explained that under civil service work processes, these minuted entries served as the “formal administrative authority” (punca kuasa) for her committee to begin evaluations.

"As a civil servant, the minute shown or placed on a document constitutes an action... and that is the source of authority [punca kuasa] for me to execute that process," Rosni said.

She added that without an official directive from the PMO, candidate letters carried no administrative weight; confirming that a document was routed directly from the PMO to the Ministry of Finance pertaining to KCJ Engineering Sdn Bhd's company profile and performance, which was used to re-evaluate the capability of the firm on whether it was qualified to implement this project.

Is should be noted that KCJ Engineering Sdn Bhd had initially been rejected due to unsatisfactory work performance and a record of "sick" (delayed/failing) projects, before being re-evaluated on PMO's instructions.

However, Rosni maintained that once the evaluation committee convened, PMO officials held no influence over technical scoring or final recommendations. Based on the re-evaluation of KCJ Engineering's updated data in the document, the committee independently recommended the firm to the finance minister for a direct-negotiation award.

Rosni also reiterated a paragraph in her witness statement, clarifying that under government procurement rules, a prime minister lacks the statutory legal power to unilaterally award projects via direct negotiation.

"Indeed, the source of authority [punca kuasa] rests with the Minister of Finance," Rosni said, adding that while direct negotiation and pre-qualification (Pre-Q) procurement methods are permitted under established guidelines, final approval remains under the purview of the finance minister.

In this trial, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, 79, faces seven charges — four counts of abuse of power involving RM225.3 million in alleged gratification, and three counts of money laundering involving RM200 million. He is accused of receiving bribes from one Datuk Azman Yusoff and three companies — including Nepturis and Mamfor Sdn Bhd — allegedly for the benefit of his political party, Bersatu.

The trial continues before Noor Ruwena on Aug 27.

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