WHAT is happening to Nafas, or the National Farmers' Organisation, a unit under the control of the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry, should serve as warning to all who are entrusted with public funds.
On Oct 29, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had bad news for the nation again when it exposed an alleged fertiliser cartel involving contracts worth RM1.8 billion.
The "foxes" in Nafas are alleged to have worked in cahoots with the cartel from 2021 to last year.
Foxes in the hen house? From what is in public knowledge, it sure appears so, but we leave the fox-hunting to the graft-busters.
Meantime, an old question has resurfaced: how did they get away for that long?
An old question is a repeat story. Call it a Malaysian malaise that rears its diseased head every now and then.
If you wonder how Malaysia managed to record a debt of RM1.5 trillion, this is a small part of the answer.
And frighteningly, the public service hasn't found a way to keep the foxes away from the hen house. Expect the national debt to grow to an unaffordable worse.
If October ended badly for Nafas, November was no better. On the very first day of the month, the registrar of the Farmers' Organisation Authority (FOA), acting under Section 20(1) of the Farmers' Organisations Act 1973, suspended the constitution of the organisation until further notice.
The effect of the FOA's move — drastic though it may seem — is to remove the authority of the board of directors and management and enable Nafas to be managed by administrators.
Nafas has a right to appeal to the Agriculture and Food Security minister.
Either way, the minister's decision is final and no recourse to any court is possible. But the latest developments have been set loose by events of the past.
The practice of awarding tenders and to whom the contracts are awarded to the way Nafas is run are just some of the bad press the national organisation has had.
As recently as September, the Malaysian Padi Farmers Brotherhood Organisation called for the reform of Nafas and a reshuffle of its leadership.
Such calls are often signs of something not being right at the apex of organisations.
And in the case of Nafas, it has serious national implications.
With 294 organisations and 921,931 farmers as members, Nafas has no choice but to go to a good place.
Getting the apex wrong means getting the destination wrong.
The warning by the FOA registrar and the MACC — fiddle with governance at your peril — must be read at two levels.
One, it is specific to Nafas. Two, it is directed to all those who administer public funds.
All those who handle government funds, however removed they are from the Treasury like Nafas is, must act like the trustees they are.
Public money is for a specific purpose, and is meant to be disbursed in a specified way.
Any other way is the wrong way. But many public officers continue with their wrong ways.
Some do it for years before they are caught. This is one reason for their impunity. The other is lack of accountability.
Crime without punishment is encouragement. The public service must give this a deep think.