PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has launched the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS) 2024-2028, which emphasises on the effectiveness of anti-graft efforts to improve governance and integrity in public service administration.
NACS 2024-2028 outlines five core strategies in efforts to prevent corrupt practices in the country, and is a continuation from the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP) 2019-2023.
Anwar in his speech said the scourge of corruption must not be taken lightly, and that the country needed powerful, dedicated and courageous leaders to combat graft.
"You need strong legislation and laws to protect, and more profoundly, you need clear political will and direction."
Also present at the launch were Deputy Prime Ministers Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali, and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki.
He said the issue of corruption could not be viewed lightly, adding that apart from the MACC, other enforcement agencies must also play their part in combating graft, including the nation as a whole.
"When we launch this agenda, the pillar is still MACC, but it also involves other agencies such as the Inland Revenue Board, the police, the Immigration Department, Customs Department, and other agencies as well to ensure that this country moves forward and is more determined to fight corruption.
"I have confidence in Azam and the MACC family who have been given the trust and support… regardless of rank and position, they fight corruption so the people get a clear message.
"This cannot happen, we cannot allow civil servants and authorities to feel that they have the right to amass wealth and carry out their administration based on the laws of the jungle," he added.
Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, said Malaysia's second prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein had warned about the dangers of corruption in the 1960s.
This, he said, was among the "three Cs", which were problems faced by Malaya at the time.
"They were communism, communalism, and corruption.
"Imagine, in 1961, 1962, Razak had already warned us, there were already leaders mired in corruption who had forgotten about the pain, blood, sweat and tears of those before them who had struggled."
He also said he was shocked to hear that the country lost billions a year due to leakages and corruption.
"(We can) eradicate poverty, build schools, hospitals, champion for the plights of the fisherman, farmers… everything can be solved if we can save this country from greed," said Anwar.
The five key strategies outlined in the NACS are education, public accountability, voice, enforcement, and incentives, with 60 sub-strategies to be implemented over five years.
It encompasses politicians, public administration, government procurement, law enforcement, legal and judicial institutions, the private sector, and the public.