Board position of PM's Digital Adviser raises conflict of interest questions.

ISLAMABAD -- The Digital Pakistan Foundation (DPF), a company recently registered under the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) as a non-profit related to Prime Minister Imran Khan's flagship Digital Pakistan Initiative (DPI), has come under continued scrutiny over the foundation's funding and possible conflicts of interest.

The DPF was established in a bid to compliment the DPI, which operates directly under the Prime Minister's office. The DPI was launched in December last year, with former Google Executive Tania Aidrus being appointed Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Digital Pakistan.

Controversy first arose when co-founder of Tolerant Pakistan Campaign Omar R Qureshi raised concerns about a not-for-profit organization 'Digital Pakistan Foundation'. He tweeted that the Special Assistant to Prime Minister Tania Aidrus was on the board of directors of this foundation along with Jehangir Khan Tareen, and Careem CEO Mudassar Sheikha, which was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) exactly one week prior to her appointment as the SAPM.

According to details, the appointment of Aidrus as SAPM came within a week of her being appointed as a founding board member of the not-for-profit DPF. In addition to the possible conflict of interest that SAPM Aidrus' dua-role presents, the presence of Jehangir Khan Tareen and Careem CEO Mudassar Ilyas Sheikha has also caused concerns among digital rights circles.

The role of the foundation is to provide assistance to the government without taking payment since it is a not-for-profit organization, but critics have still raised the question of why the government did not form this company itself and under its direct command if it is to serve the Digital Pakistan Initiative's interests.

Things have also become murkier since the removal of Jehangir Khan Tareen's name from the foundation's board of directors, even though his lawyer, Sikander Bashir Mohammad, remains on the board according to the SECP.

Perhaps even more importantly, Careem is currently in the middle of a process whereby it is trying to turn into a 'Super App' as chronicled by Profit's cover story in a recent issue. This is another major conflict of interest, while Sheikha has not commented on this, all fintech players are pointing towards his appointment on the board as a major conflict of interest.

According to inside sources, Sheikha being on the board is causing great anxiety...