Saudi Arabia charity boss fired

Cairo: Saudi authority had sacked the executive chairman of a state-sponsored charity over mishandling of the job, a local newspaper said.

The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SADIA) had announced dismissal of the official, identified as Abdelaziz bin Ahmed, from the post in the Ihsan (charity) platform because he had directed letters to some agencies that gave the impression that reports on donations are regularly presented to the Saudi leadership in an “indirect and unacceptable” insinuation, Okaz reported.

“This [suggestion] is completely incorrect,” SADIA said, according to the report.

The sacked official did not check with SADIA or a government committee that oversees the charity on the contested letters, the paper noted.

Ihsan is a voluntary platform set up for “lofty goals that do not go in line with these completely rejected insinuations,” it added.

Ihsan was launched in March by SDAIA that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman heads its board. It kicked off with Saudi King Salman Bin Abdulaziz donating SR20 million and Prince Mohammed pledging SR10 million for non-profit charity works.

The platform is an integrated portal aimed to manage donations in the kingdom. It is designed to invest data and artificial intelligence to maximise impact of development projects and services by providing advanced technological solutions and building an effective system through partnerships with governmental and non-profit private sectors.

The platform is overseen by a committee comprising SDAIA, the Saudi ministries of interior, financing, health, education, human resources, justice, municipal and village affairs, and housing as well as the Saudi central bank.

Donors have easy access methods to the portal including the smartphone. The benefactors have the option to specify the sector into which they want their money to be channeled, including education, health care and social relief.