Tofail Ahmed is a Bangladesh academic and local governance expert. [1] [2] He is the chairman of the Local Government Reform Commission. [3] He is a retired professor and former head of the department of public administration at the University of Chittagong. [4] He is the chairperson of the Knowledge and Action Network Worldwide (Knowledge Trust). [5]
Ahmed was born on 4 May 1955 in Chittagong. [6] He completed his SSC and HSC at the Fatehabad High School and Chittagong College respectively. [7] He completed his bachelor's degree and master's degree in politics and administration at the University of Chittagong in 1976 and 1977 respectively. [7] He completed a second master's at the Swansea University in Social Sector Planning and Management in 1981 and where he also completed his PhD in Development Studies in 1991. [7]
Ahmed joined Fatehpur High School as an assistant teacher in 1975. [7] From 1976 to 1978, he worked at Agrani Bank. From 1979 to 1981, he worked at the Chittagong Port Authority. [7]
Ahmed joined Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development as a faculty in 1981; where he worked till 1994. [7] [8] From 1994 to 2007, he worked at the University of Chittagong. [7] He was a Governance Adviser of Shiree from 2007 to 2008. [7] He was a member of the Local Government Commission in 2009. [7] [9] Ahmed was an advisor on Local Governance for the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2014. [7]
From 2014 to 2015, Ahmed was a director of the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development at Brac University. [7] From 2015 to 2016, he was the governance director of Manusher Jonno Foundation. [7] He was a professor of political science at North South University. [7] From 2018 to 2021, he was the vice chancellor of Britannia University. [7] He was awarded the Mercantile Bank Award in 2018 for his contribution to education. [6] He served on the Bangladesh Planning Commission. [7]
In 2020, Ahmed criticized the framing of charges against Matiur Rahman, editor of Prothom Alo, over the death of school student by electrocution at an event of the newspaper. [10] In 2022, Ahmed's name was suggested for the post of commissioner of the Bangladesh Election Commission. [11] In October 2023, he called on political parties to hold dialogue to avoid conflict at an event of Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik. [12]
After the fall of the Sheikh Hasina led Awami League government, the Muhammad Yunus led interim government made Ahmed a member of the newly created Electoral System Reform Commission in October 2024. [13] He was appointed chairman of the Local Government Reform Commission. [3]
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