KP governor asked to replace Red Crescent’s Fata chairman

PESHAWAR: Senior officials from the Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have thrice approached Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra in recent months to seek the removal of the PRCS Fata chapter chairman Ikramullah Kukikhel, but it is unclear if and when he will be replaced.

Knowledgeable sources told The News that the Governor was informed about the frustration of the PRCS and ICRC with Ikramullah Kukikhel due to the manner in which he has been running the affairs of the Fata unit of PRCS for the last one and a half year.

Ikramullah Kukikhel, who belongs to a prominent Afridi family of Jamrud in Khyber Agency, was made honorary chairman of the PRCS for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) by the then Governor Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan. It was considered a political appointment and it seems the present Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra too is finding it difficult to replace Ikramullah Kukikhel due to political considerations.

A three-member delegation led by the PRCS central chairman Dr Saeed Elahi met Governor Jhagra on August 24 in Peshawar and raised the issue of replacement of Ikramullah Kukikhel.