Bangladesh removes Yunus as Grameen MD
Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus removed from his position following allegations of irregularities in its operation.
DHAKA:
Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been removed from his position as head of microlender Grameen Bank, Bangladesh’s central bank said on Wednesday, following allegations of irregularities in its operations.
Yunus, 70, set up Grameen Bank and has been its managing director since 2000. Lauded abroad by politicians and financiers, he has been under attack from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government since late last year, after a Norwegian documentary alleged Grameen Bank was dodging taxes.
Yunus has denied any financial irregularities and his supporters’ say he is being discredited by the government because of a feud with Hasina dating back to 2007, when he tried to set up a political party while Bangladesh was ruled by an interim military government.
“We have delivered a letter to the Grameen Bank that Muhammad Yunus has been removed,” said the central bank governor’s spokesman, AFM Asaduzzaman.
On Tuesday, a central bank official said a letter had been sent to the Finance Ministry demanding Yunus retire immediately because he had been in his post at Grameen for nearly a decade longer than the law allowed.
The official retirement age of managing directors at commercial banks is 60.
Yunus has said the bank’s board, which is mainly made up of borrowers, allows him to stay on as long as he is able to perform his duties.
In a sign of a rift within the microlender, Grameen Bank said Yunus was staying on while a government-appointed chairman said the order had been implemented. It was unclear how the deadlock would be resolved.
“This is a legal issue. Grameen Bank is taking legal advice. It is also examining all the legal aspects of this issue,” Grameen Bank said in a statement.
Separately, Grameen’s government-appointed chairman Muzammel Huq said: “Today I received the letter from the central bank and I was directed to implement the decision. The decision has been implemented with immediate effect.”
Published in The Express Tribune, March 3rd, 2011.
Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been removed from his position as head of microlender Grameen Bank, Bangladesh’s central bank said on Wednesday, following allegations of irregularities in its operations.
Yunus, 70, set up Grameen Bank and has been its managing director since 2000. Lauded abroad by politicians and financiers, he has been under attack from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government since late last year, after a Norwegian documentary alleged Grameen Bank was dodging taxes.
Yunus has denied any financial irregularities and his supporters’ say he is being discredited by the government because of a feud with Hasina dating back to 2007, when he tried to set up a political party while Bangladesh was ruled by an interim military government.
“We have delivered a letter to the Grameen Bank that Muhammad Yunus has been removed,” said the central bank governor’s spokesman, AFM Asaduzzaman.
On Tuesday, a central bank official said a letter had been sent to the Finance Ministry demanding Yunus retire immediately because he had been in his post at Grameen for nearly a decade longer than the law allowed.
The official retirement age of managing directors at commercial banks is 60.
Yunus has said the bank’s board, which is mainly made up of borrowers, allows him to stay on as long as he is able to perform his duties.
In a sign of a rift within the microlender, Grameen Bank said Yunus was staying on while a government-appointed chairman said the order had been implemented. It was unclear how the deadlock would be resolved.
“This is a legal issue. Grameen Bank is taking legal advice. It is also examining all the legal aspects of this issue,” Grameen Bank said in a statement.
Separately, Grameen’s government-appointed chairman Muzammel Huq said: “Today I received the letter from the central bank and I was directed to implement the decision. The decision has been implemented with immediate effect.”
Published in The Express Tribune, March 3rd, 2011.