Azam Baki controversy: A question of integrity

[superadmin]

The share trading controversy involving Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Azam Baki is not just about him or the trustworthiness of the MACC. It is about the integrity of our institutions.

An individual can come and go but the institution remains. The degree of trust that an institution commands depends largely on the integrity of its head and officers, and its ability to act independently, fairly and swiftly.

The question, therefore, is how the MACC measures up. Not well, it appears.

There are calls for Azam to go on leave or resign in the wake of the controversy over shares that were traded with his account in 2015.


Coming out in the open on Jan 5, weeks after the allegations swirled on social media, Azam denied committing any wrong or that there was a conflict of interest on his part.

“I explained to the board (the MACC’s anti-corruption advisory board) that my trading account was used by my brother for his shares trading and I have no interest nor have any part in this. The shares were bought in the open market and my brother had financed the purchases on his own.”

It doesn’t look good on Azam because he defended himself in public only after academician Edmund Terence Gomez resigned as a member of the MACC’s consultation and corruption prevention panel on Dec 27 – after claiming that the panel had failed to discuss the allegations against Azam – and the subsequent public pressure.

- More -