Chief of Myanmar’s Anti-Corruption Commission Steps Down

By Nan Lwin 2 December 2020

YANGON— President U Win Myint on Tuesday accepted the resignation of the chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), who won plaudits from the public for his handling of a number of high-profile cases, according to the President’s Office.

U Aung Kyi’s resignation comes four months short of the end of his term in March 2021. The ACC said U Aung Kyi submitted his resignation letter to the President in person on Nov. 16, adding that his decision to leave his post is not connected to political or social issues.

U Aung Kyi said in a Facebook post that he has been preparing to step down for more than a year, adding that he wants to focus on meditation and would shut down his Facebook account. Born in 1946, he turned 74 last month.

The retired major general and former minister of information was appointed ACC chairman in November 2017. Previously, he served as minister for labor and information under the military junta, and helped to establish a system for reporting cases of forced labor in Myanmar to the UN. In 2007, he was appointed as the junta’s liaison officer to then detained opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Under his chairmanship, despite concerns about a lack of oversight of Myanmar’s military,

the ACC has been praised for stepping up its efforts to tackle the most high-profile cases including the bribery case of former Tanintharyi Region Chief Minister Dr. Lei Lei Maw and a case involving the director-general of the Food and Drug Administration.

U Aung Kyi revealed to the media last year that he and other ACC members had received threats relating to corruption cases.

In one of its most high-profile cases, the commission filed charges against the former attorney general of Yangon Region and five other officials for allegedly taking bribes to drop a murder case against the alleged killers of popular comedian Aung Yell Htwe.

According to a recent report by Transparency International, a global coalition against corruption, the ACC enjoyed the highest level of public trust among the anti-corruption agencies of 17 Asia-Pacific countries.

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