Ex-KP CM Azam Khan was never involved in scams

“I will inaugurate the solar project of Peshawar Press Club in the coming week,” caretaker Chief Minister Azam Khan told me. Who knew that next week would never come into his life.

Eighty-nine-year-old Azam Khan was a soft-spoken, honest officer and a gentleman. He served as a bureaucrat and later held positions in different interim governments but never compromised on his principles. He had never been involved in any financial scam during his service.

Azam Khan was appointed jointly by the government and opposition parties after the dissolution of KP assembly, but for ten months he did not interfere in any political affairs. During this time, accusations were being made against the governor regarding political interference, but Azam Khan was not accused and he also stayed away from the media.

Once, I met him and said that the information secretary was creating problems regarding the Press Club grant, which had been approved by the previous cabinet. He called the secretary and asked him to issue the release order the same day and also ordered the finance secretary to release funds for journalists.

“I am aware of the problems of media and journalists; we will provide all possible support for the welfare of journalists. Call me tomorrow if you do not get the funds. I promise to help the journalist community,” he said.

Later on, he handed a Rs15 million cheque to the Peshawar Press Club. He also promised to provide funds for the completion of solar project of the press club. A few days before his death, he said: “I would inaugurate the solar project,” and asked the chief secretary to look after the project and complete it in the second week of November.

The former bureaucrat had taken oath as the interim chief minister on January 21 this year, following the dissolution of KP Assembly in the same month.

He started his bureaucratic career in June 1964 as assistant commissioner, Peshawar. Later on, he was posted as DC, commissioner, secretary, ACS, and chief secretary of the province. He also served in the federal government as secretary of petroleum and natural resources, and secretary of religious affairs.

Azam Khan served as the minister for interior, inter-provincial coordination, and capital administration during the caretaker government of 2018. He remained the minister for finance, planning & development during the caretaker government in 2008 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He was a Barrister-at-Law from Lincoln’s Inn and had completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1958 in Political Science and History from the University of Peshawar.