In a radio interview today, MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki said the Cabinet also agreed that the termination of an MACC chief commissioner should go through a special tribunal.

He said this was decided during a recent special Cabinet meeting on corruption, chaired by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

“This means that the MACC chief commissioner’s services cannot simply be terminated by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the advice of the prime minister,” he said.

“We see now that the MACC is fully supported by the current government in our efforts to implement anti-corruption measures effectively.”

Azam also confirmed that the Special Cabinet Committee on Anti-Corruption, chaired by Muhyiddin, agreed to segregate the recruitment and termination of MACC staff by establishing an MACC Service Commission.

He said this would be done under the supervision of the Public Service Commission.

“Giving us the freedom to appoint and terminate staff through the commission itself is a better option. This will show transparency of the government and allow the MACC the freedom to take action.”

He said many corruption cases from 2015 to 2020 centred around government procurement, which led to the loss of large quantities of government resources.

He said MACC’s investigations had revealed that many government agency officials had lied about procurement matters.

“For example, there was a case in Sabah back then where the government implemented a water supply upgrading project worth RM1.5 billion. The information we received revealed that the actual cost was only half of that,” he said.

Azam said MACC’s tasks now were no longer focused only on enforcement, but also on raising public awareness of the agency’s anti-corruption efforts.

“For every case investigated, we practice transparency, we will inform the public about the case,” he said.

“At present, MACC is focused on public interest and high-profile cases because these are the ones that have brought about huge monetary leaks and losses.”