KUALA LUMPUR – The audit report of Muda’s 2021 flood relief programme, which has been a bone of contention among current and former party members, is expected to be released by next month, according to acting president Amira Aisya Abd Aziz.
She said that the audit process has reached the final phase, allowing the report to be disclosed in March.
“I was informed that the (audit) process has reached the final part.
“It should be out at any moment, and Muda is attempting to push the release date to March,” she said during a visit to Scoop’s office here, yesterday.
However, she said that she cannot promise the exact date as the audit is not currently in the party’s hands.
Last week, several former Muda members, who recently resigned from the party, told Scoop that they left over the party’s failure to produce an audit report of the funds raised for the flood disaster in December 2021, among other issues with leadership.
In response, Amira said all information about the audit had been communicated to party members via meetings and internal memos, adding that the explanation might have been misunderstood.
“For those (ex-members) who are questioning (the audit), somehow the communication is lost in translation,” she said.
“Some of the members who left the party did attend one of those briefings that I had. They asked questions about the audit, and they were answered. There were no follow-up questions.”
Pointing to the article by Scoop, Amira said that the ex-Muda members had misrepresented the situation regarding the audit.
Amira, who is also the Puteri Wangsa assemblyperson, said the audit process began at the end of 2022, when they met an auditing firm after the party’s final 2021 flood relief project in Hulu Langat.
“We (the party) had this project where we helped to build a house in Hulu Langat (which was damaged) due to the flood, and that fund also comes from the fund-raising.
“After the whole house was built, we started the audit process as the project came to an end at the end of 2022,” she said.
Amira explained that it took a year to proceed with the audit process, as the party was preoccupied with the flood relief project.
Muda was not well-established when the 2021 flood struck, so the party carried out the programme by collaborating with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and different individuals since the party did not have its own bank account, she said.
On the mass resignation of Muda members, Amira said that the party celebrates democracy and that it is their right to leave the party.
“As the acting president, I would much rather if the members don’t leave the party at all, but if there is any dissatisfaction, we don’t close any door for them to ask (us) anything,” she said.
She stressed that the number of members who remained in the party far outweighed those who left, as they had listened to the explanation given regarding the audit. She added that the party does not control the decisions of its members.
“We (the party) did consider it (resignations) as something very important to address after some of them resigned.
“I did reach out to people who still had concerns and talked to them. That has been our practice. I hope to still answer the concerns and questions of those still in the party,” she said. – February 22, 2024