An Oxfam trustee has announced he is resigning from the charity’s board after infighting among senior leadership and claims of poor governance.
Dr Balwant Singh is the third senior figure to leave the charity in the last three months. The former chairman, Charles Gurassa, stood down in November and chief executive Halima Begum was forced out last month.
“I am resigning because I have lost confidence in the board’s governance, integrity, transparency and accountability,” said Singh in a resignation statement. “These failures are now sufficiently serious and systemic to warrant external regulatory intervention.”
The Observer revealed earlier this month the breakdown in the working relationship between Gurassa and Begum. Trustees said they had lost confidence in Begum, who considered she was being forced out of the charity. Begum had filed a grievance claim against Gurassa in late October.
The findings of an independent review into Begum’s performance were released to the media before she had been officially notified of the detailed findings or given a chance to respond. Singh was stunned at what he considered was a “brutal” briefing.
He said: “I feel morally obliged to resign from the Oxfam GB board and my last act before I leave is to apologise to [Halima Begum] for the cruel and inhumane way she has been treated. We should have been better than this.
“These governance failings indicated the systemic problems faced by Oxfam GB. The Charity Commission must now remove [this board] and launch an independent investigation into governance failures.” Singh said his resignation would be effective on 22 January.
The Observer understands that Oxfam’s interim chief executive, Jan Oldfield, will also leave the charity this month for another job in the sector. Charity officials said the departure was planned before Begum left and recruitment for a new interim chief executive is underway.
Oxfam said there was a unanimous decision to terminate Begum’s employment and it is confident in the integrity of the processes. The charity has announced an independent review of its board processes, following an investigation by The Observer.
A lawyer representing Begum has said the former chief executive was constructively dismissed and will be pursuing legal action. The Charity Commission is examining concerns of alleged governance failures.
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Photograph courtesy of Oxfam