Local govt expert Prof Tofail Ahmed passes away; CA mourns

Eminent local government expert Prof Tofail Ahmed passed away on Wednesday night at the United Hospital in the capital at the age of 71.

He breathed his last at the hospital while undergoing treatment at around 9:30PM, his son-in-law Lt Col Sarwar Jahan confirmed.

Prof Tofail had been suffering from heart related complications.

He will be buried to the family graveyard in Fatehpur village under Hathazari upazila of Chittagong district on Thursday, family members said.

Meanwhile, Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus expressed profound shock and sorrow at the death of Prof Tofail Ahmed.

In a condolence message, the Chief Adviser said Prof Tofail was one of the pioneering researchers on Bangladesh’s local government system.

“He (Tofail) served with utmost dedication as the head of the Local Government Reform Commission formed by the interim government in 2024. He made constructive and realistic recommendations for the development of the local government system, which are highly relevant,” Professor Yunus said.

Yunus further stated that Tofail was a distinguished scholar and author on local government and cooperatives. Throughout his life, he (Tofail) was devoted to promoting administrative decentralization, accountable local governance, and democratic practices in the country.

Tofail, also former professor of the Chattogram University (CU), served as a Local Governance Adviser at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Bangladesh.