REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo said that he has appointed Jambi Deputy Governor Fachrori Umar as the acting governor of the province. Fachrori was appointed following the detention of Jambi Governor Zumi Zola by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

"This afternoon, the deputy governor of Jambi was appointed by the minister of Home Affairs, on behalf of the central government, as the acting governor of Jambi," Tjahjo Kumolo said, in a short message to reporters in Jakarta, on Tuesday.

Kumolo stated that the appointment of Umar as the acting governor of Jambi was to fill the government vacuum in Jambi Province, as Zola was unable to lead the government in the province.

He noted that the handing over of the decree on the appointment of the acting governor of Jambi will be submitted by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

On Monday, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested Zola, who had previously been named a suspect by the KPK in an alleged corruption case, in which he was suspected to have received gratuities related to projects of the Public Work and Public Housing in Jambi in the 2014-2017 period.

"Zola was detained for the first 20 days in the detention house of KPK in Kuningan," KPK spokesman Febri Diansyah revealed in Jakarta on Monday (April 9).

Before being arrested, the KPK questioned Zola as a suspect in the alleged bribery case.

The case implicating Zola was unveiled after the bribery case involving acting provincial administration secretary Erwan Malik was revealed by KPK on Nov 29 last year. Malik; acting head of the regional public work and housing office, Saifudin; and a Jambi lawmaker, Supriono, were arrested by KPK on bribery charge.

KPK named Supriono as a suspect for accepting bribe, and Malik, Arfan, and Saifuddin were charged with bribing the lawmaker, to help ensure that the regional legislative assembly approved a regional budget proposed by the provincial administration.

Arfan, therefore, is a suspect in two different cases. In the first case, he and Zola were charged with accepting bribe from business players, and in the second case, he was involved in bribing a lawmaker to speed up the legislators' approval for regional budget.

KPK confiscated a total of Rp4.7 billion from those caught red-handed by KPK. The money was to be used to bribe the regional lawmakers to approve the draft provincial budget.

If found guilty, Zola will face a sentence of up to 20 years' imprisonment and a fine of up to Rp1 billion.

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