The Male' City Council has reconstituted its committees, appointing ruling People's National Congress (PNC) Councillor Ahmed Saneeh Haneef to lead several key financial bodies, including the Chair of the Audit Committee and Vice Chair of the Finance, Budget, and Resource Mobilization Committee.
The assignment of these critical financial oversight roles to Saneeh comes despite serious allegations of corruption and embezzlement during his tenure at the Housing Development Corporation (HDC). These allegations include involvement in the "Binveriyaa" land plot scandal and the theft of assets from the Water Theme Park project.
Saneeh served as the Chief Real Estate Officer at HDC when these incidents occurred. While no formal action was taken against him regarding the Water Theme Park case, he was dismissed from his position at HDC following the investigation into the land allocation irregularities.
The appointment of Saneeh as Audit Committee Chair follows long-standing concerns over the Male' City Council’s failure to conduct regular audits. Despite numerous deadlines set for the completion of audit reports, no current records have been made public to date.
The most recent available audit report for the council dates back to 2020. Since then, an entire council term has concluded amidst widespread allegations of financial misconduct. Many of these reported irregularities are alleged to have taken place during the mayoral term of President Mohamed Muizzu.
Male' City Council manages the largest budget of any local government authority in the Maldives, with annual allocations exceeding those of several state ministries.
