AG Report 1/2026 reveals serious governance breaches at UKM involving millions in unrecorded revenue and irregular spending.
PETALING JAYA: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) faces significant scrutiny following the release of the Auditor-General’s Report 1/2026, which documented sweeping governance failures spanning unauthorised fee collection, unaccounted revenue, and non-compliant expenditure running into tens of millions of ringgit.
According to the report, offer letters issued in 2024 for the Master of Education (SPEND) and Postgraduate Diploma in Education (DPLI) programmes specified a combined total of RM60.77 million in student fees.
However, the collection process raised immediate red flags — RM50.74 million of that sum was handled by Koperasi B-5-1788, a cooperative that had not been formally authorised in writing under UKM’s Constitution to act as a fee collection agent on behalf of the university.
The auditors stressed that the authority to impose and collect fees is a statutory function of the university, one that must be exercised through its Board of Directors. Compounding the issue, a cooperation agreement governing both programmes — signed on June 15, 2023 — had not received the requisite approval from the Finance Minister as mandated by UKM’s constitutional provisions.
The revenue discrepancy at the heart of the findings is stark. While offer letters indicated that RM60.77 million should have been recognised, UKM recorded only RM28.41 million in its books. The remaining RM32.36 million, retained by the cooperative, was never reflected as university revenue — leading to a material understatement of income in UKM’s 2024 financial statements.
Delays in fund remittances added further concern. A total of RM21.02 million in fee allocations was transferred to UKM behind schedule, with payment delays ranging between 31 and 291 days. On top of that, RM5.32 million remained completely outstanding, with some amounts unpaid for anywhere between one and more than three years.
The audit also turned a spotlight on how money was being spent. Out of RM57.67 million disbursed on services and supplies during 2024, RM6.69 million was found to be non-compliant with regulations.
The irregularities included RM5.94 million in commissions channelled to agents who did not meet eligibility criteria, RM107,907 spent on overseas activities for six individuals with no affiliation to UKM, RM35,000 in industrial attachment allowances disbursed to ineligible students, RM200,000 in advances approved without the required authorisation, and RM403,500 in procurement transactions bypassing the university’s quotation committee process.
The Auditor-General’s summary characterised the findings as reflecting “serious irregularities and breaches of governance” across both revenue and expenditure functions. The report called on UKM to conduct a thorough review of its existing and future cooperation agreements to ensure they align fully with constitutional requirements, while also urging the university to implement stronger oversight and accountability mechanisms.
The Sun Malaysia
