Tabung Haji, a pilgrimage savings fund entrusted with the hopes of 9.2 million Malaysians, stands at the center of a long-unresolved question about accountability and institutional stewardship. In Seremban, former minister Mujahid Yusof Rawa has called on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to release the findings of a Royal Commission of Inquiry that has quietly completed its work after three years of examination. His appeal is not merely political — it is a reminder that transparency is the only instrument capable of separating allegation from evidence, and that those whose savings are held in trus
RCI report on Tabung Haji must be made public, says Mujahid
The people have the right to know who was responsible
Why does Mujahid think releasing this report matters so much right now?
Because 9.2 million people have money in this fund, and they've been hearing conflicting stories about what happened to it. He wants the evidence on the table so blame can be assigned accurately rather than politically.
But we should note—Mujahid is making claims about what the 2017 audit showed. We don't have the audit itself yet, and we don't have the RCI findings. He's asking for transparency while presenting his own version of events.
What specifically does he say went wrong?
He claims the previous management changed accounting policies repeatedly to hide losses and justify paying dividends the fund couldn't afford. He says there was a RM4.1 billion gap between what the fund claimed it had and what it actually had.
Again—those are his claims, verified by two external firms he hired. The RCI panel will have done its own independent investigation. We don't know yet if they'll reach the same conclusions.
Did Mujahid himself do anything wrong, or is he just the messenger?
He says he discovered the problems when he became minister in 2018 and immediately ordered a restructuring to save the fund. He lodged police reports. He's positioning himself as the one who found the mess and tried to fix it.
Which is his story. The RCI investigated the period 2014 to 2020—that includes his tenure from 2018 to 2020. So the report might say something different about his role or his decisions.
What does he want Anwar to do?
Release the RCI report publicly after getting Cabinet approval. He thinks transparency will vindicate him and show the public the actual facts.
That's a reasonable ask, but it's also strategic. A public report that supports his version helps him politically. We should wait to see what the report actually says before assuming it will confirm his narrative.
Le Pouls
- A completed RCI report on Tabung Haji sits unreleased, leaving 9.2 million depositors in the dark about what investigators found regarding the fund's management between 2014 and 2020.
- Mujahid, who was himself questioned by the panel, faces a politically charged narrative that blames his coalition for the fund's troubles — a narrative he says the report would directly refute.
- The 2017 audit he commissioned allegedly uncovered unlawful dividend payouts, a RM4.1 billion asset-liability deficit, and an impairment accounting policy changed three times in a single year to manufacture the appearance of profit.
- Two independent accounting firms verified the audit's findings, police reports were filed, and yet the full picture remains locked away from the public whose retirement savings were at stake.
- Mujahid is urging Anwar to bring the RCI findings to Cabinet and then release them openly, arguing that only public disclosure can settle competing blame narratives and restore institutional trust.
Tabung Haji, a pilgrimage savings fund entrusted with the hopes of 9.2 million Malaysians, stands at the center of a long-unresolved question about accountability and institutional stewardship. In Seremban, former minister Mujahid Yusof Rawa has called on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to release the findings of a Royal Commission of Inquiry that has quietly completed its work after three years of examination. His appeal is not merely political — it is a reminder that transparency is the only instrument capable of separating allegation from evidence, and that those whose savings are held in trust deserve to know the truth of what was done with them.
In Seremban, former minister Datuk Seri Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa made a direct appeal: the Royal Commission of Inquiry report on Tabung Haji, now complete, should be brought before Cabinet and released to the Malaysian public. The fund holds deposits for 9.2 million Malaysians, and the RCI — chaired by former chief justice Tun Md Raus Sharif — was established in 2022 to examine its management between 2014 and 2020. Mujahid's argument is simple: the people with a stake in this institution have a right to know what went wrong.
His call carries a personal dimension. Mujahid was himself questioned by the panel, and he has watched his coalition, Pakatan Harapan, repeatedly blamed for Tabung Haji's difficulties — with accusations that he personally sold off the fund's assets. A public report, he argued, would test those claims against documented evidence rather than allow them to circulate unchallenged.
When Pakatan took power in 2018 and Mujahid assumed ministerial responsibility for Tabung Haji, he was briefed on a 2017 financial audit that alarmed him. The audit alleged that the previous management had paid dividends the fund could not afford, and had altered its impairment accounting policy — the mechanism for writing down declining asset values — three times in a single year, departing from standard protocols to manufacture the appearance of profit.
Mujahid commissioned two external accounting firms to verify the findings. Both confirmed a RM4.1 billion deficit between assets and liabilities. Losses exceeding RM200 million from one subsidiary had gone unrecorded, while profitable subsidiaries had failed to remit earnings to the parent fund. Police reports followed, and Mujahid framed his subsequent restructuring as a rescue of an institution holding the retirement savings of millions.
The RCI report, if released, could either validate his account or present a different picture entirely. Until it is made public, the competing narratives about who damaged Tabung Haji — and when — will remain suspended, unresolved, and politically useful to those who prefer ambiguity over accountability.
In Seremban, former minister Datuk Seri Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa made a straightforward case: the Royal Commission of Inquiry report on Tabung Haji should be released to the public. The fund, which holds deposits for 9.2 million Malaysians, has been the subject of investigation since 2022, when the Yang di-Pertuan Agong consented to establish the RCI to examine its management and operations between 2014 and 2020. The six-member panel, chaired by former chief justice Tun Md Raus Sharif, has completed its work. Now, Mujahid argued, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim should bring the findings before Cabinet and then release them to the people who have a stake in knowing what went wrong.
Mujahid's push for transparency carries weight because he was himself questioned by the RCI panel. As Amanah deputy president, he has reason to want the record clear—particularly on a matter that has become politically charged. He noted that Malays have been repeatedly told that Pakatan Harapan, the coalition he was part of, bears responsibility for Tabung Haji's troubles and that he personally sold off the fund's assets. A public report, he suggested, would settle those claims against evidence.
When Pakatan took government in 2018, Mujahid became minister in charge of Tabung Haji. He said he was briefed on the fund's 2017 financial audit, and what he found alarmed him. The audit, he claimed, exposed management wrongdoings that predated his tenure. The previous management had paid out dividends despite the fund lacking the financial capacity to do so. More troubling, he alleged, was the manipulation of the fund's impairment policy—the accounting mechanism that determines how a company writes down asset values when their market worth drops. The management, he said, changed this policy three times in a single year, departing from standard accounting protocols, to mask the fund's true financial health and create the appearance of profit so dividends could be distributed.
The scale of the alleged problems was substantial. Mujahid ordered the 2017 audit sent to two external accounting firms for verification. Their findings confirmed a RM4.1 billion deficit gap between assets and liabilities. The accounting impairment policy had indeed been altered three times in one year to show the fund registering a profit on its balance sheet. Additionally, losses exceeding RM200 million suffered by one subsidiary had not been recorded in the fund's accounts. Some subsidiaries that had generated profits, meanwhile, failed to forward those earnings to the parent fund.
These allegations prompted police reports. Mujahid framed the restructuring he undertook as minister as a necessary rescue operation for an institution holding the retirement savings of millions. The question now is whether the RCI report will confirm his account or reveal a different picture. He expressed hope that Anwar would move to release the findings, allowing depositors and the broader public to see for themselves who bore responsibility for the fund's condition and what, if anything, had been concealed or mismanaged. Until the report is public, the competing narratives—about who damaged Tabung Haji and when—will remain unresolved.
Citations marquantes
The RCI panel, which was composed of highly qualified members, had carried out an independent, comprehensive and professional investigation. The people have the right to know.— Mujahid Yusof Rawa
When Pakatan Harapan took over the federal government in 2018, I discovered what I believe to be wrongdoings and there was no other option but for us to carry out a restructuring exercise to save the fund.— Mujahid Yusof Rawa