Former Sabah Cabinet minister Datuk Conrad Mojuntin, passed away from a stroke on Nov 17, Wednesday at the age of 73.
According to reports, Mojuntin have been suffering with heart related ailments for a while now.
Petrus, the eldest son of Mojuntin said his father was admitted to a private hospital on Sunday before passing away at 11.30am.
Mojuntin’s body is now at the Agut Jubilee Lighthouse funeral home in Penampang with the funeral service tentatively set to be held this Saturday.
Mojuntin’s brother Peter Mojuntin was among the six ministers from the Berjaya government who were killed in the tragic Double Six air crash on June 6, 1976.
Mojuntin stepped into politics following Peter’s untimely death and was youth and sports minister in the Berjaya government Cabinet between 1982-85.
Mojuntin was credited for overseeing the golden age of sports in Sabah, achieving success at national and international level.
Bodybuilding reached new heights under his watch with Sabah hosting the prestigious Mr Olympia and Justin Sompong becoming Asia’s Bodybuilding Champion in 1985.
After the fall of the Berjaya government in 1985, Mojuntin remained on the sidelines of politics.
He attempted to make a comeback in the 2004 general elections on a DAP ticket but failed to win the Penampang parliament and Moyog state seats.
Mojuntin was involved in a controversy in Oct 2006 after being implicated in the fatal shooting of a 26-year-old.
However, it was later ruled that the shooting was in self-defence.
He was later jailed for six months and fined RM2,000 for criminally intimidating businessman Doughty Disimon outside a cafe.
On June 2011, Mojuntin went on a hunger strike over several political and religious issues after his pension was stoped.
In a statement he highlighted 12 reasons for his hunger strike, among them are related to issues such as equal opportunity for Sabahans and fulfilling the promises of the Malaysian Agreement on the Formation of Malaysia