PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has ordered an inquiry into a public spat between the provincial finance minister and the management of the Bank of Khyber.

The BoK ran advertisements in Saturday`s newspapers, accusing Finance Minister Muzaffar Said of pressuring its management to accept his demands, a charge rejected by the minister and his party the Jamaat-i-Islami.

The advertisement alleged that the minister was not aware of corporate governance rules and he was upset with the management`s refusal toentertain his demands.

It accused Mr Said of using bank resources for his party`s gatherings and political aims, interfering in the affairs of the board and corporate matters, elevating officers to senior positions because they are affiliated with his party and hiring people through the bacl
The JI held an emergency meeting at its secretariat in Peshawar to discuss the issue and then met the chief minister to demand action against BoK Managing Director Shamsul Qayyum.

In a statement, Mr Khattak defended the minister and said: `The advertisement was illegal, immoral and was overstepping the authority on the part of the bank management, wherein bankresources were used to defame the minister, who is an honest and hardworking person.

Sources said the advertisement was an attempt to pre-empt and stymie an investigation into the appointment of the BoK managing director by the KP Ehtesab Commission.

In a related development, the BoK management sacked bank officers` association president Haider Ali, general secretary Farmanullah, senior vice president Haroon Minhaj, vice president Ayaz Ahmed and joint secretary Amanullah with immediate ef fect.

They have been charged with misconduct, including `subversive activities, disseminating rumours and exerting pressure on bank management` underthe bank`s service rules and policies.

The sources said the Ehtesab Commission was actively pursuing the case and had circulated a questionnaire amongst three senior government officials and one retired secretary of the finance department. Some of them have appeared before the investigating officer to answer questions.

Provincial JI chief Mushtaq Ahmed Khan at a press conference demanded sacking of BoK Managing Director Shamsul Qayyum and said they were going to court against him.

He said the bank officers` union had approached the Ehtesab Commission, saying the process for appointment of the BoK managing director was manipulated.He denied any wrongdoing on the part of the finance minister and said all appointments and promotions in the bank had been done under a mechanism and the MD was responsible for implementing them.

The finance minister said in a press statement that the KP government had no involvement in the voluntarily separation scheme introduced by the bank management earlier this month.

The scheme, to be implemented from April 18-29, offers employees up to 50 years of age an opportunity to disassociate themselves from the bank.

The BoK officers union alleges that the scheme is likely to cost the bank over Rs1 billion.

The MD`s post fell vacant in March 2013. The government received 42 applications for the post, 14 of them were interviewed in December 2013, but no one was considered to be up to the standard.

The selection committee headed by the chief secretary instead proposed to readvertise the post and hire services of a firm to assist in the process. Following the approval of a summary, M/s Deloitte was selected for scrutiny and short-listing of candidates.

In response, 24 applications were received, which were handed over to the M/s Deloitte, which recommended seven candidates.

Shamsul Qayyum was not among them and the firm had reasoned that he had not worked at senior level positions.

The government did not follow that short-listing, saying `however, the list was, prima facie, found unsatisfactory, and clarification ofthe firm was found evasive` The selection committee summoned all the 24 candidates, instead of seven shortlisted by M/s Deloitte.

According to the minutes of a meeting of the selection committee dated September 11, 2014, all 24 applicants were interviewed and Shamsul Qayyum, Abdus Samad Khan,KhawajaMohammad Almas and Zia Ijaz were shortlisted for the second round of the interview.

After the second round, which took place the same day, Shamsul Qayyum and Khawaja Mohammad Almas were selected as the most suitable candidates for the job.

The committee held discussions on the merit of the two candidates and decided to recommend Mr Qayyum as No. 1 candidate for the job.

The same day, a summary of Mr Qayyum`s appointment as MD was moved to the chief minister and the provincial finance department notified the appointment on October 1.