A civil service which is clean of corruption, misappropriation and power abuse - that is the main focus of new Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Dzulkifli Ahmad.

"We do not want the civil service to be smeared with corruption, as well as senior officers seen living a lifestyle that is beyond their income or accumulate wealth through corrupt practices," he said in an exclusive interview with Bernama today.

He said focus would be given to enforcement and regulatory agencies, local authorities and government-linked companies in line with the aspiration of the Government Transformation Programme (GTP).

The role of the integrity officers, he said, would also be strengthened so that integrity and governance in the civil service could be enhanced.

This will reduce leakage and ensure improvement in the civil service delivery system, he added.

"It is those with no morals who cause the (image of the) civil service to be tarnished and looked at cynically," he said.

Dzulkifli, a veteran in the civil service, was the head of the National Revenue Recovery Enforcement Team of the Attorney-General’s Chambers before being appointed MACC chief commissioner.

He viewed his new appointment as further enhancing the ties and cooperation between the MACC and the National Revenue Recovery Enforcement Team of the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

"The experience gained as director of the National Revenue Recovery Enforcement Team and my involvement in prosecuting several high-profile corruption, commercial crime and money laundering cases will be shared with MACC officers.

"This will certainly help to make efforts to curb and eliminate corruption smooth," he stressed.

Dzulkifli said his role and responsibilities would not only focus on investigating high profile cases, but also cases of interest to the people.

"This does not mean we will push aside small cases because corruption has no boundaries, whether the value involved is small or big, it still is an offence.

"Corruption is an issue of the people and MACC should be seen as being with the people and as their defender," he added.

In ensuring that efforts to prevent corruption are conducted in a holistic manner, Dzulkifli said MACC would focus on efforts and actions to confiscate assets obtained from corruption.

- Bernama