Owais Ahmed Ghani

Owais Ahmed Ghani (Urdu: اویس غنی احمد) is the former governor of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, who previously governed southwestern province of Balochistan for four and a half years.

He became active in politics in 1996 being one of the founding members of Pakistan Tehrik e Insaf led by cricketing hero Imran Khan. Following the partys rout in the 1997 general elections he subsequently left the party in protest against the joining of several controversial figures into the party. In 1999, he joined the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provincial cabinet serving as provincial minister for Industry from 1999-2002,[1] He was in 2002 appointed as Federal Minister for environment following the resignation of Omer Asghar Khan. Following the 2002 general elections he was appointed Governor of Balochistan. His period as Balochistan governor was controversial, especially following the murder of Nawab Akbar Bugti and Baloch protests against Federal rule. Ghani admitted there were problems with the law and order situation and drugs in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, due to instability in neighbouring Afghanistan.[2]

He became governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in January 2008 after the former governor, Ali Jan Aurakzai, stepped down. Ghani gained a reputation for being tough with militants during his tenure as governor of Balochistan,[3]

He is the third man (the first being Rahimuddin Khan and the second being Miangul Aurangzeb) in the history of Pakistan to have held the governorship of two provinces.

Family

Belonging to the Kakar pashtun tribe of Zhob,Baluchistan. Owais Ahmed Ghani is the nephew of Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar, one of the renowned founding fathers of Pakistan, son of his brother Sardar Abdul Ghani who was a career Police Officer. He is cousin of General Abdul Waheed Kakar Ex-Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan. The recently martyred and highly celebrated Commandant of the Frontier Constabulary, Safwat Ghayur was his first cousin.

Achievements as Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (January 2008 - February 2011)

  1. Design, implementation and execution of a comprehensive Counter-Insurgency Campaign against Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants in Province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa & FATA involving close coordination between Political, Military & Administrative organs of government which achieved outstanding success within 30 months.
  2. Development & implementation of a Reformed Government Administration set-up in the northern districts of KPK based on Magistracy, Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) systems.
  3. Conceiving & developing a social uplift development project TARUCCI (Tribal Areas Rural to Urban Centres Conversion Initiative) for bringing social change via Urbanisation by developing Urban Centres in core areas of FATA and successfully obtaining World Bank Funding for the project.

Achievements as Governor Baluchistan(August 2003 - January 2008)


References

Political offices
Preceded by
Abdul Qadir Baloch
Governor of Balochistan
2003 2008
Succeeded by
Amanullah Khan Yasinzai
Acting
Preceded by
Ali Jan Aurakzai
Governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
2008 2011
Succeeded by
Syed Masood Kausar