Kenneth Wain has called time on his 11-year stint as Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations, the Education Ministry said on Friday evening. 

Prof. Wain, who was appointed Malta's first-ever NGO Commissioner back in December 2007, informed the ministry of his decision to step down in a resignation letter dated 19 April. 

The ministry said that Prof. Wain had highlighted concerns about urgent revisions needed to the 2007 Voluntary Organisations Act in his resignation letter, though it did not elaborate any further. 

Prof. Wain is believed to have become frustrated at delays in passing legal amendments to shut loopholes making NGOs vulnerable to money laundering and terrorist financing - a concern he had hammered home in his most recent annual report, in which he also bemoaned "crisis level" staffing numbers at his office.

Last year, the outgoing NGO Commissioner had also said that the Gozo Ministry should come under investigation for its "disregard of the law" in the way it doled out €80,000 in funding. 

Attempts at contacting Prof. Wain for comment on Friday night were unsuccessful. 

In its statement announcing Prof. Wain's resignation, the ministry defended its efforts to revamp the 2007 Act, saying amendments "had to undergo a rigorous process" of scrutiny by the FIAU, Attorney General and Inland Revenue department before being approved. 

It added that it had always been available and supportive of the Office of the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations "both in terms of human resources planning, capacity building and good governance."