PENAMAPNG: The formation of the KadazanDusun Murut (KDM) Special Task Force was mooted when USNO was dissolved and its Muslim members automatically became Umno members, but the Umno constitution had to be amended first to accommodate the non-Muslim KDM members.
Umno KDM Special Task Force chaiman Datuk John Ambrose Dumpangol said at that time, Usno (now defunct) led by the late Tun Mustapha bin Datu Harun, had asked the then Deputy Prime Minister, Tun Ghafar Baba, about the plight of the KDM non-Muslim members in Usno wanting to join Umno.
“So, Umno amended its constitution in 1991 to enable former Usno KDM non-Muslim members to enter its fold.
“I think it’s an honour to the KDM non-Muslims in Sabah to be accepted as Umno members through the amendment (Umno constitution), when it spread its wing to Sabah,” he told The Borneo Post here yesterday.
John said certain quarters had queried the rationale of having the KDM Special Task Force in Umno.
“So I think young leaders in Umno who didn’t know the historical background should understand that KDM members who became Umno members, are not after position or wealth,” he said.
He also said the KDM Umno Task Force’s noble and sincere efforts should be appreciated and not to be misconstrued, adding that it is not after any of the KDM seats.
Umno KDM members, he said, fully supported the leadership of Prime Minister cum Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Deputy Prime Minister and Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, who is also Sabah Umno liaison chief.
Meanwhile, John said Penampang Umno division had recruited more than new 2,000 members this year and not 20,000.
“I have to rectify the inflated figures because ‘make-believe-figures’ are not only unwise but counterproductive,” he said.