“THIS is his father’s company; he’s the majority shareholder. This is very common in this corporate world”.

Such is how netizen Aku Rakyat (@rasyaik) reacted to the appointment of Amir Nashrin Johari - son of Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani - as the executive director of C.I. Holdings Bhd in which then father was a major shareholder with effect from yesterday (March 6).

Aku Rakyat was commenting on a one-liner tweet on X (previously Twitter) by Astro Awani that “the son of Johari Abdul Ghani was appointed as director of CI Holdings, KUB”.

Apart from C.I. Holdings, Amir Nashrin who studied accounting and finance at then Oxford Brookes University was simultaneously appointed as the non-independent and non-executive director of KUB Malaysia Bhd with effect from the same day.

Through his investment vehicle JAG Capital Holdings Sdn Bhd, Johari who was the former finance minister II and current Titiwangsa MP holds stakes of 32.96% in CI Holdings and 33.28% in KUB, according to Bursa Malaysia filings by the two listed companies.

Interestingly, netizen Syahir (@syahirsyhr) offered a run-down of the corporate history of both C.I. Holdings and KUB to clear any misconception among netizens.

“Johari Ghani has been the controlling shareholder of both companies for a long time. When he was appointed as a minister, he resigned from the board of directors. And now, he is appointing his son to sit in the board of directors (on his behalf),” explained Syahir.

“Neither GLICs (government-linked investment companies) nor the government holds any stake in both companies. As such, they aren’t government-owned companies nor are government agencies, hence rest assured that no one sen of the rakyat money is involved.”

Glad to say that there are many netizens who agree with Syahir that Johari or Jo Ghani as he is affably known is merely grooming his son to take over his business empire one day.

However, there is no denial that some netizens had jumped into conclusion by blaming the usual cronyism and nepotism suspects.

On the overall, netizens have demonstrated maturity for they are now able to distinguish between what is truth and untruth or more importantly, do not blindly fall for the propaganda of unscrupulous quarters who are out there to sow discord by disseminating half-truth. - March 7, 2024 

https://focusmalaysia.my/sensible-netizens-dump-strong-cable-claim-in-appointment-of-joe-ghanis-son-as-c-i-holdings-kub-director/