Witness Says Lodewyk Pusung Lacked Authority to Appoint MBG Programme Foundations

A former subordinate of ex-Deputy Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) Lodewyk Pusung, Bagus Artiadi Soewardi, has asserted that his superior did not have the authority to appoint partner foundations for the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme. The statement was made by Bagus while testifying as a witness in a pretrial hearing at the South Jakarta District Court on Wednesday (29/7).

During the hearing, Bagus refuted allegations of direct appointments of foundations by Lodewyk that did not meet requirements. He stated that structurally and in terms of authority, Lodewyk did not have the capacity to do so. “There was none. Because if the question is whether he was appointed by Mr Lodewyk Pusung, he did not have the authority to appoint,” Bagus told the sole judge.

Beyond the issue of authority, Bagus also revealed that there were attempts by certain parties to misuse Lodewyk’s name to solicit money. He recounted information about someone who wanted to own an MBG kitchen and claimed to have been asked for money, with the pretext that a portion would be handed over to Lodewyk. However, Bagus confirmed that his former superior immediately rejected the information when it was reported to him. “Once we conveyed it, it was immediately rejected by Mr Pusung,” he added.

This pretrial hearing was filed by retired Lieutenant General Lodewyk Pusung to test the legality of the suspect designation, arrest, and detention carried out by the Attorney General’s Office. Lodewyk is implicated in an alleged corruption case concerning the management of the MBG programme at BGN for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. The Attorney General’s Office named Lodewyk a suspect on 3 June 2026. Besides him, there are six other suspects in the case, including former BGN Head Dadan Hindayana, former BGN Deputy Head Sony Sonjaya, and several other officials and private sector figures.