NICOLA Sturgeon has been drawn into the row over an SNP MP’s charity, as Labour demanded she explain why public money was used to launch the organisation.
Labour urged the First Minister to release all government files on the Scottish Asian Women’s Association (SAWA), which was set up in 2012 by Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh to “promote religious and racial harmony”.
SNP ministers spent more than £9,000 on catering and entertainment for 160 guests at the launch, and also secured the use of Stirling Castle for the night, worth a further £7,000.
The event was attended by Ms Sturgeon and Alex Salmond, then the First Minister.
However Ms Ahmed-Sheikh had only applied to register SAWA as a charity 48 hours earlier.
It was not until 14 weeks after the launch that it was formally recognised as one.
The charity and its links to the SNP have been under scrutiny this week after the Herald revealed it donated just £700, or 2.8 per cent of its £25,000 income, in its first three years.
At the time, Ms Ahmed-Sheikh, then a prominent SNP activist, was SAWA’s chairwoman.
The sums revived claims that SAWA, which organised £100-a-plate award ceremonies for two years then fell dormant, was effectively a state-backed publicity vehicle for her career.
In 2014, when Ms Ahmed-Sheikh was a European election candidate, a SAWA Facebook page posted a message urging people to vote SNP in order to get her elected.
Ms Ahmed-Sheikh, a solicitor who was in Labour and the Tories before joining the SNP, quit SAWA the day after being elected as MP for Ochil and South Perthshire last May.
Since her departure, SAWA has donated £11,000 to other charities and good causes.
Labour MSP Jackie Baillie will today write to Ms Sturgeon, asking her to support an inquiry by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.
Ms Baillie is also expected to ask why taxpayers’ money was used to kickstart SAWA before it was a charity, and what auditing was done to ensure public funds were used “appropriately”.
Ms Ahmed-Sheikh, 45, has said she remains “very proud” of her role launching SAWA.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The Scottish Government supported the launch of the Scottish Asian Women’s Association in 2012 but has not provided any financial support since. We are yet to receive Ms Baillie’s letter but will respond to it in due course.”
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