ISLAMABAD: A grant of $70,660 by a foreign mission in Islamabad to the True Worth Foundation (TWF), a non-profit organisation headed by the wife of Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi, have raised many eyebrows.

According to some people in relevant quarters, it is a case of conflict of interest which people holding public office should best avoid, and the government must issue special policy guidelines to discourage this practice.

“On the face of it there is nothing wrong in spending money on a medical facility by a foreign mission. But questions arise when funds are channelled through people holding key positions in the public sector,” remarked a well-placed Foreign Office official who didn’t want to be named.

According to Dr Arif Alvi of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, the TWF may be doing a splendid job under its chairperson Zahra Fatemi, but the fact is that she is a lawmaker and her husband holds an important position in the government.

In line with best international practices, Mr Alvi said, she should have resigned from the TWF position or at least declined to accept funds from a foreign mission.

The Japanese Embassy in Islamabad provided the grant from the government of Japan to TWF, an NGO working for grassroots development in Pakistan.

According to a press release on the embassy’s website, the grant was meant to provide essential medical equipment and an ambulance to a health centre located on the outskirts of Islamabad.

Japanese Ambassador to Pakistan Hiroshi Inomata, his wife Midori Inomata and Maryam Nawaz Sharif inaugurated the grant in a ceremony also attended by Zahra Fatemi and other members of the NGO, added the statement dated June 12 this year.

Ms Fatemi is an active member of the parliamentary friends group of Japan.

In a frank and candid telephonic conversation with Dawn, Mr Fatemi outrightly rejected the argument that the grant provided by Japan to TWF constituted a case of conflict of interest.

“Soon after I was made the special assistant to the prime minister in 2013, I disengaged myself from the foundation.”

He said that since 2004 his wife who is a member of the National Assembly on a reserved seat, had been involved in the charity work and “I personally believe that everybody who has resources and contacts must do charity work.

“Half of ministers and people sitting in the parliament are running NGOs, some of them doing good work for the destitute and vulnerable sections of the society.”

Mr Fatemi said that because of “inadequate resources and capacity in the public sector to meet health and education needs of the masses, it’s a good thing that the civil society has come forward to fill the gap”.

About this particular grant, Mr Fatemi claimed that having come to know about TWF’s social work Japanese officials approached his wife and offered to provide financial assistance which was being spent on acquiring medical equipment. “I have absolutely no role in this regard.”

When contacted for comments, the Counsellor Economic and Development in the Embassy of Japan Mr Takashi Harada, sent the following email: “We are of the opinion that it does not constitute conflict of interest.”

He said the Grass Root Grant Assistance Programme mainly concerned areas that improve basic human needs. “Typical projects include construction of primary and junior high schools, improvement of fundamental medical equipment for hospitals, vocational training and seminar concerning poverty alleviation,” he said, adding that “since TWF was working to meet the medical needs of the poor community that was why we deemed it eligible, after careful examination of its proposal”.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2015