JEDDAH, 28 November 2006 — Mohammed Al-Sharif, the secretary-general of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), was relieved from his position effective yesterday, according to JCCI sources.
The news did not come as a surprise as rumors surfaced of the near removal of Al-Sharif immediately after the new chairman, Saleh Al-Turki, took office almost six months ago. Al-Turki replaced Abdullah Al-Muallami when the latter was accused of not meeting his obligations by some of the board members. Al-Muallami was voted out and Al-Turki was selected as chairman.
Al-Turki informed Al-Sharif of his decision to remove him from office on Sunday. Mostafa Sabri was chosen as temporary secretary-general for a month until a final decision on the replacement is made. Sources would not elaborate on the reason for removing Al-Sharif who became secretary-general three years ago, but it seems that the two men did not get along and did not see eye-to-eye. Sources claimed that Al-Sharif was a “bad manager” and that was the reason for removing him and it was one of the reasons the board turned against Al-Muallimi for refusing to remove Al-Sharif.
Others said that Al-Sharif was offered a reduced salary and a change in tasks but declined the offer. They also claimed that he was unqualified, although he has a masters degree in marketing and has held several top administrative positions in the JCCI before becoming secretary-general. The new temporary secretary-general has a bachelor’s degree in law and 25 years’ experience in the JCCI.
It was obvious that Al-Turki has sidelined the secretary-general’s role by taking over most of the authority. “Previously, the secretary-general was the executive director but after the changes introduced by Al-Turki, the chairman has become the executive manager and he created five sub-administrations with its own director who reports directly to the chairman, thus basically removing all power from the secretary-general,” said a source.
Since his takeover as chairman, Al-Turki has made many changes to the structure of the chamber, its administrations, duties, programs and managers. Some saw the changes as positive and necessary to concur with the changes and developments in the business community locally and internationally while others saw the changes as unreasonable and unstudied.
Some questioned and objected to the way Al-Sharif was removed from office saying that it was illegal. The chamber’s regulations state that the chairman has the authority to remove the secretary-general from office and that the board has the right to hire him.
According to sources, the chairman’s statement removing Al-Sharif from office was taken with the approval of the board. However, in order to fire someone from his job there are procedures and regulations that have to be followed such as giving warnings and notices for not meeting the tasks assigned and filing these complaints against the employee with the Ministry of Labor.
The chairman cannot just fire the secretary-general or any employee except with valid reasons and proof. Al-Sharif can object to this decision by going to the Labor Office.
As for the most likely candidate to replace Al-Sharif no one wanted to give specific names but perhaps the current Assistant Secretary-General Saud Al-Ounallah is the strongest candidate. It remains to be noted that the JCCI is the first chamber in the Kingdom and a very important one.
