Tofail Ahmed, expert on local government and elections, dies at 71

He was a member of the interim government’s Electoral Reform Commission

Tofail Ahmed, an academic who served two major reform commissions recently, has died. He was 71.

He chaired the local government commission and was a member of the electoral reforms team.

He passed away around 7:30pm on Wednesday at a hospital in Dhaka, his son-in-law Lt Col Sarwar Jahan confirmed.

Tofail’s remains will be taken to Chattogram on Wednesday night and buried on Thursday at the family graveyard in Fatehpur village of Hathazari.

A respected scholar and reformist, Tofail was a member of the Electoral Reform Commission formed by the previous interim government, and had earlier served on the Local Government Commission during the 2006-07 caretaker administration.

On Nov 18 last year, the Muhammad Yunus-led government appointed him chairman of the new Local Government Reform Commission, a seven-member body tasked with strengthening transparency and accountability in local administration.

The commission, under his leadership, submitted its two-volume final report to Chief Advisor Yunus on Apr 20.