FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Transparency International Malaysia Welcomes Release of Tabung Haji RCI Report, Declares: "Transparency Delayed is Accountability Denied"
Kuala Lumpur, 30 July 2026
Transparency International Malaysia (TI-Malaysia) welcomes the long-overdue public release of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) Report on Lembaga Tabung Haji. However, its publication raises a fundamental question: Why were the Malaysian public, Tabung Haji depositors and Parliament required to wait until July 2026 to access findings that were reportedly completed and presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in August 2022?
An inquiry established under the authority of a Royal Commission to examine matters of significant public interest should not remain beyond meaningful public scrutiny for years. Transparency delayed undermines accountability, weakens public confidence, and limits the ability of institutions to respond decisively to identified failures.
The findings now in the public domain are deeply concerning. They point to systemic governance weaknesses, political interference in board appointments and profit-related decisions, serious accounting irregularities, questionable investment practices, and a prolonged failure of accountability.
Public reporting on the declassified report indicates that Tabung Haji should have recorded a loss of RM1.4 billion in 2017 instead of the RM3.4 billion profit, that was reported, that hibah distributions were sustained through improper accounting practices, and that the Commission has recommended forensic audits into 14 problematic investments while proposing that active politicians be prohibited from serving on the institution's board and subsidiary boards.
These findings are not merely about historical failures. Tabung Haji is entrusted with safeguarding the savings of millions of Malaysian Muslims and occupies a unique position as one of the country's most important public institutions. Its sacred public mandate demands the highest standards of governance, transparency and integrity. Protecting depositor confidence can never justify withholding the truth. Genuine confidence is built through competent governance, timely disclosure, independent oversight, effective enforcement, and transparent corrective action—not prolonged secrecy.
TI-Malaysia therefore calls on the Government to move decisively from disclosure to implementation.
First, the implementation status of every recommendation made by the RCI must be publicly disclosed through a structured, transparent and verifiable reporting mechanism.
Second, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Royal Malaysian Police, and other relevant enforcement agencies should provide time-bound public updates on investigations arising from the report, including matters previously referred through police reports and MACC investigations.
Third, Parliament's proposed special sitting should proceed without further delay and serve as the beginning of sustained bipartisan parliamentary oversight rather than a one-off political exercise.
Beyond immediate enforcement, the report highlights the urgent need for structural reform.
TI-Malaysia calls for comprehensive amendments to the Tabung Haji Act 1995 to establish clear fit-and-proper requirements for board appointments, prohibit active politicians from serving as Chairman or board members, strengthen conflict-of-interest provisions, require meaningful declarations of interests and assets by senior office bearers, and reduce excessive concentration of discretionary powers in the Executive. If, as reportedly recommended by the RCI, Tabung Haji is to remain a single integrated institution, its governance framework must reflect contemporary standards of independence, integrity and public accountability.
We further call for independent forensic audits into all investments identified by the Commission, robust recovery of losses wherever possible, and the commencement of civil, criminal or disciplinary proceedings wherever evidence warrants. No individual—regardless of position, political affiliation or former office—should be shielded from due process. At the same time, any enforcement action must be conducted fairly, independently and strictly in accordance with the rule of law.
This episode also reinforces the urgent need for broader institutional reform. Malaysia continues to lack a comprehensive federal Freedom of Information law, while the Official Secrets Act has too often been invoked to restrict legitimate public scrutiny. TI-Malaysia reiterates its longstanding position that the public has a right to know how statutory bodies and public institutions entrusted with billions in public funds are governed. The Government should therefore adopt a declassification-by-default policy for future commissions of inquiry once proceedings have concluded, subject only to narrowly defined legal exceptions.
The release of the Tabung Haji RCI Report must mark the beginning—not the conclusion—of meaningful accountability. Malaysia cannot afford another cycle of public outrage followed by institutional inertia. What the country requires now is decisive action, credible enforcement and lasting governance reform.
Transparency International Malaysia stands ready to support all genuine efforts to strengthen governance, restore public confidence, protect depositors and ensure that no public institution entrusted with the people's trust is ever again permitted to drift so far from its legal and ethical mandate without timely public accountability.
Dr. Raymon Ram
President
Transparency International Malaysia
