"the current board of Oxfam GB is no longer fit for office.”
An Oxfam trustee resigned from the charity’s board over the “cruel and inhumane” treatment of the organisation’s former chief executive.
Dr Balwant Singh stepped down after raising concerns about the “brutal” manner of Halima Begum’s departure in December.
He accused fellow trustees of undermining public trust and lacking transparency.
In a statement, Singh formally apologised to Begum, who left after two years as Oxfam chief executive following “serious concerns” about her leadership.
Singh, who joined Oxfam in November 2022, said he felt “morally obliged” to resign due to events surrounding Begum’s exit.
He said: “I have despaired at the lack of accountability to the thousands of staff, volunteers, the public and donors.
“We should have been better than this. I believe that the actions of the Oxfam GB board have compounded organisational damage and undermined trust.
“I have concluded that the current board of Oxfam GB is no longer fit for office.”
Singh called on the Charity Commission to remove Oxfam’s board, install caretaker leadership and launch a statutory inquiry into “governance competence and serious potential failures”.
He cited wider governance concerns dating back to the Haiti safeguarding scandal in 2018 and said he was “angry” about money spent on lawyers instead of hunger crises in Sudan and east Africa.
Responding to Singh’s resignation, an Oxfam spokesperson said:
“Board changes are a matter for our formal governance processes. We will update on these in due course.”
Earlier in January 2026, Oxfam announced it would commission a review of board processes following Begum’s departure and the criticism that followed.
Oxfam said its board unanimously decided trust and confidence in Begum had been lost after a December review by Howlett Brown.
The charity said trustees had received complaints about Begum’s leadership since January 2025 and discussed these at a meeting on October 24.
Oxfam said a “fair and confidential” external review was launched “in line with employment law and Charity Commission guidance”.
Begum had faced scrutiny after more than 140 staff were made redundant to address a second consecutive operating deficit exceeding £20 million.
The job cuts prompted protests led by Unite, involving what the union described as a “very demoralised” workforce.
Singh criticised the board for lacking transparency over what he called “the vast black hole” in Oxfam’s finances that led to the restructure.
After The Times reported on Begum’s exit, Singh said the statement made on behalf of the board had not been shared with him and did not “reflect my views as a trustee”.
He condemned the “brutal” briefing against Begum and said the findings of the leadership investigation were not shared with her and she was not given a right of reply.
A lawyer representing Begum said that she had been subjected to “a victimising witch-hunt”.
Oxfam’s chair, Charles Gurassa, stood down in November.
Begum had filed a grievance claim against him before his departure, a complaint that he told the board was “inaccurate, with mischaracterisations and innuendo”.
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