LONDON: The multi-million-pound UK-based organisation Muslim Aid commissioned an independent investigation on Friday into allegations of mismanagement and malpractice at the charity.
The move comes after a no-confidence letter backed by dozens of staff members was sent to The Charity Commission against Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jehangir Malik, .
The regulator confirmed that it has received the letter from the Muslim Aid Staff. In the letter, staff members have demanded that Malik and the Board of Trustees immediately step down for the good of the organisation.
The letter claims that under the reign of Jahangir Malik, Muslim Aid suffered financial losses and has a growing deficit of five million pounds and favouritism is rife.
The letter states: “We hereby notify the board that the staff at Muslim Aid have overwhelmingly concluded that they no longer have any faith in the CEO Jehangir Malik or his ability to lead Muslim Aid. We therefore notify the board with this correspondence as a formal vote of no confidence in the CEO and that by this action we are in dispute with the board over their continued misplaced trust and support of the CEO."
“For months we have been harbouring profound concerns in the stewardship of this organisation and are prepared to deal directly with The Charity Commission on the issue if necessary. Staff morale is at an all-time low and a significant body of the staff are severely aggrieved and discontented.”
The letter also accuses the board of whitewashing an internal investigation into the CEO.
“Staff have repeatedly requested financial transparency and the CEO has been avoiding this since he joined. For years now we have been asking how much money is available for certain projects, what is our true overheads/admin, how is Zakat being dealt with and for over three years all that we ever hear is that him and the team are working on it and he will get back to us.
“Then we were informed prior to the departure of the FD (Financial Director) that our financial position was precarious with the initial report from our finance team that our deficit (Unrestricted) had exceeded the £5m mark for 2018."
"Staff were extremely worried to hear of this as it only confirmed all of our fears given the lack of planning and quite maverick approach to spending. No one person is bigger than any organisation or institution but if anybody needs to resign it should be the CEO. His tenure has been a disaster and the number of staff that refuse to join or work under him should be a wake up call to the board.”
Staff have complained that there is no clarity on Muslim Aid’s Zakat policy despite repeated requests for the leadership to implement one, and that this has made staff feel uncomfortable about soliciting donations. They have complained that the amount of income the organisation spends on administration is much higher than the 12-15% it tells the public that it spends on these fees.
Malik was a founding trustee of the Muslim Charities Forum and in 2010 was awarded an OBE in recognition of his 20 years of contribution to the humanitarian cause.
In a statement to Geo, the Muslim Aid said: “Muslim Aid like many organisations has a whistle blowing process in place to ensure members of staff have the ability to complain about issues they feel need exploring."
"We can confirm that the correct processes have been instigated and that investigations relating to it are currently underway, both by the Board of Trustees and by external investigators."
It is worth noting though, that alongside the original whistle blowing complaint, other issues have been uncovered by the Trustees that require investigation. However we would like to assure everyone that concrete action is being taken now and in the immediate future.
“The Board of Trustees fully appreciates the concern from all of how Muslim Aid is run and everyone involved takes this responsibility extremely seriously. Some of the issues relate to long standing concerns, that the charity commission is aware of and the board has been working tirelessly to resolve. Unfortunately, there is not an overnight solution and the work of the charity and it’s considerable positive impact on beneficiaries must come first whilst investigations take place.”
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