LAHORE: Newly appo­inted Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) Chairman ret­i­red Lt Gen Sajjad Ghani assumed charge on Friday.

The government issued a notification about his appointment on Thursday. Mr Ghani — 23rd chairman of Wapda — is a civil engineer and soldier as he has pursued two parallel career streams for the past four decades.

He obtained Bachelor of Engineering degree from Military College of Engi­neering in 1984 and Mas­ter’s degree in civil engineering from University of Engine­ering and Techno­logy, Lahore, in 1990.

Gen Ghani has served as Commander Corps Engineers and Quarter Master General and supervised numerous mega construction projects. He belonged to Engineers Corps and got commission in the army in 1978. He has commanded Infantry Brigade and Infantry Division during Swat operations. He has also served as Vice Chief of General Staff at the GHQ and Karachi Corps commander.

It may be mentioned that the government has appointed Gen Ghani as Wapda chairman for a period of five years. The post has been lying vacant since May 7 this year after the resignation of retired Lt Gen Muzammil Hussain for “personal reasons”. He had remained Wapda chairman for more than five years.

After Gen Hussain’s resignation, the government handed over the charge to Wapda member (finance) Naveed Asghar till the appointment of a regular chairman.

Gen Hussain was appointed as Wapda chairman on Aug 24, 2016 by then prime minister Nawaz Sharif, replacing Zafar Mahmood. Gen Hussain’s contract expired on Aug 24 last year, but the PTI-led government reappointed him for another period of five years.

In his resignation submitted to PM Shehbaz Sharif, the outgoing Wa­­pda chairman stated that he was unable to continue as Wapda chairman due to personal and family compulsions and reques­ted him for the acceptance of his resignation that was later accep­ted by the government.

Former Wapda chairman Zafar Mahmood had also resigned from his post, citing “personal reasons”.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2022