Ex-Cllr. Afzal Akram, again: why no MBE?
Mention of ex-Councillor Akram in a previous post brings to mind what we have lost since he decamped to West London.
The website of his new company, which appears to be a high end mini-cab firm, handily sums up his service to public life in the tabulation reproduced below. Can any local figure claim to have done anything like so much in so short a time? And for some reason Cllr. Akram never even got an MBE. One wonders: why not?
- Elected as a Councillor & Cabinet Member in the London Borough of Waltham Forest (2006 – 2014) – Annual Budget circa £1 billion
- Chairman of the North East London & City Cluster of 8 NHS Primary Care Trusts (PCTs)(2012 – 2013) – Annual Budget circa £3.5 billion
- Chairman of the Outer North East London Sector of 4 NHS Primary Care Trusts (PCTs)(2010 – 2012) – Annual Budget circa £1.6 billion
- Chairman of the NHS Waltham Forest Primary Care Trust (PCT)(2008 – 2010) – Annual Budget circa £425 million
- Chairman of the Business Link for London (2000 -2008) – Annual Budget £40 million
- Chairman of the London East Connexions Partnership (2002 – 2008) – Annual Budget circa £30 million
- Deputy Chairman of the Learning & Skills Council London North (2000 – 2008) – Annual Budget circa £200 million
- Governor of Waltham Forest College (1997 – 2008) – Annual Turnover circa £20 million
- Board Member of the DTI’s National Ethnic Minority Business Forum (2005 – 2007)
- Non-Executive Director of the North London Chamber of Commerce (2004 – 2006)
- Managing Director of Deltacub Group of Businesses (2001 – 2006)
- Non-Executive Director of the UK Pakistan Chamber of Commerce (2000 – 2001)
- Non-Executive Director of the London East Training & Enterprise Council (1998 – 2001)
- Chairman of the London East Asian Business Association (1996 – 2001).
Truth & Lies - July 18, 2015, 2:02 pm
Whilst AA might wish to portray his many public appointments as a tribute to his skills and business experience the truth is somewhat different. Principally he was used by the Loakes faction of the Labour Group as a useful way of having a high level and very visible Asian member while not having that individual be a member of any of the Borough’s ruling, and competing, Pakistani clans. Being from lowland Pakistan, and not like most of our other South Asian Cllrs from Kashmir, AA was not believed to be as beholden to local special interest groups or clan elders as anyone else and this, more than any other reason, explains both his swift accession and also his swift fall from grace once the clans finally had something that they could use against him.
When it comes to Waltham Forest Labour internal politics, and also to those of the Lea Bridge Road Mosque, one should never underestimate the influence and effect of the clans and their never ending internecine rivalries.