The President's Office on Thursday, announced the resignation of former cabinet minister Aminath Athifa., from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
According to the executive office, Athifa resigned for health reasons, citing that her condition was disrupting her ability to continue serving as the minister.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih thanked Minister Athifa for her service during her tenure.
Meanwhile, local gender-based advocacy groups have raised concerns over criticism predominantly falling on female ministers. Out of the 18 cabinet ministers, only six are women. Halfway into the tenure of President Solih, three female cabinet ministers were investigated and one had previously resigned over mounting pressures.
Recently, Athifa was accused of being involved in corruption over an issue that took place in 2004, when she was hired as a consultant for Vilma Construction, a company that managed several state-run housing projects following the 'Boxing Day' Tsunami.
According to a special report released by the Auditor General, during her time as a project manager Athifa allegedly failed to conduct due diligence, which in turn increased costs as the ministry needed to reconstruct work that was previously considered certified.
The issue surfaced when the Parliament's Accountability Committee made an inquiry into the existence of any ongoing investigations of corruption involving the cabinet appointees.
However, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has since confirmed that the watchdog was and is not undertaking any such investigations over charges of corruption, confirming that Athifa does not hold any such criminal records.
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