“Their appointment (the four community figures) has nothing to do with the advisory board as they are appointed in their personal capacity to advise the MACC chief,” he told FMT.
He said board members, on the other hand, were appointed by the King on the advice of the prime minister to counsel the anti-graft body on matters stated under section 13 of the MACC Act 2009.
He said the four were special individuals because of their extensive experience, and that no payment of money was involved. Their appointments would not interfere in the board’s functions, he added.
Aziz was responding to the recent appointment of former chief justice Zaki Azmi, former Dewan Negara president Abu Zahar Ujang, Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute director Ramon V Navaratnam and Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation senior vice-chairman Lee Lam Thye as advisers to MACC chief Dzulkifli Ahmad.
The MACC, in a statement on Monday, said the appointment was for two years, from Feb 1 to Jan 31, 2020.
The statement said the advisers’ role was to provide views and advice to the MACC chief commissioner on operations, prevention, education as well as other matters relating to the implementation of MACC activities, at the request of the chief commissioner.
Aziz said the board met once a month and members provided suggestions to the MACC to do better in performing its functions.
However, board member Musa Hassan, a former inspector-general of police, said he was in the dark over the appointments of the four.
Dzulkifli did not respond to FMT’s query despite a message via Whatsapp sent to him.
Last week lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla had questioned the legality of the appointments as there was already an advisory board.
Haniff said there was no provision in the MACC Act on the appointment of honorary advisers.
He said the appointments of the four meant there would be two bodies to advise the MACC chief
Under Section 13 of the act, advisory board members come from the ranks of individuals who have rendered distinguished public service or achieved distinction in their professions. The MACC chief commissioner is an ex-officio member of the board.
Their terms of reference are, among others, to advise the MACC on any aspect of corruption and to receive, scrutinise and endorse proposals towards the efficient and effective running of the anti-graft body.
Information sourced from the MACC website shows the other board members are Hadenan Abdul Jalil, Jamaluddin Ahmad Damanhuri, Dzulkifli Abdul Razak, Michael Yeoh Oon Kheng, Shamsul Amri Baharuddin, Mohd Noor Abdullah, Azman Ujang, Mohd Tap Salleh, Hamzah Kassim, David Chua Kok Tee and Halimah Mohd Said.