National Council of Professors under scrutiny

KUALA LUMPUR: The National Council of Professors (NCP) has been operating through donations and is self-funded as a free entity since its official disbandment in 2018, it says in response to the Auditor-General’s Report.

“The NCP has taken certain initiatives to ensure its continuity, aside from amending its constitution to align with its position and status,” it said in a statement yesterday.

NCP was disbanded in 2018 and removed from the Prime Minister’s Department as it was deemed “political” or “non-essential”.

According to the Auditor-General’s Report 2/2024, more than RM370,000 of funds from the council had been misused to benefit two companies involving two shareholders who are also council trustees.

The report said two members of the NCP board of trustees had failed to declare their interests as shareholders of two private companies in accordance with the Companies Act.

“Additionally, the misuse of NCP funds to finance the operations of these two companies, amounting to RM373,516, was a conflict of interest,” the report revealed.

The report, which covers 2019 to 2023, also said the ministry in charge did not approve fixed allowances for the NCP chairman and deputy chairman amounting to RM207,000.

The report said the NCP had never been audited since it was incorporated in 2014, adding that the council received a total of RM34.84mil in management grants from the government for 2015 to 2018 as well as 2022 and 2023.