Dadu Municipal Committee chairman accused of misusing public funds

Councillors say no council meeting has been held in the last six months

KARACHI: Exposing fissures in Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) Dadu district chapter, a group of councillors has accused the Dadu Municipal Committee chairman of misusing public funds. The municipal committee's vice-chairman, Ahmed Nawaz Solangi, was among a dozen such councillors who, at a press conference in Dadu, levelled several charges of corruption against Chairman Gul Hassan Qambrani.

"No council meeting has been called in the last six months despite repeated requests of the councillors," alleged Solangi, Pir Danish, Ghulam Mustafa Brohi and others. "The citizens' complaints about cleanliness, shortage of water and other issues haven't been addressed."

The municipal committee consists of 24 wards. The PPP swept the committee in the 2015 local government elections, winning 21 wards.



The councillors blamed Qambrani for utilising public funds without taking the vice-chairman or other members of the council into confidence. They alleged that even funds for fuel of the committee's vehicles are being spent to fuel private vehicles of influential persons.

"The chairman could not answer our questions and criticism, [which is why] he is not calling the council's meeting," Solangi and others alleged.

The councillors gave a 15-day deadline to the chairman to call the meeting and present details of expenditures over the last eight months, warning that they will take the matter to court if the demand is not accepted.

Qambrani could not be contacted for his version.