The decision to award Kabul Bank the contract to collect money from Afghan pilgrims wishing to make the Haj this year has caused heart burn amongst its competitors – both public and private banks – who say the process was not transparent.
The decision to award Kabul Bank the contract to collect money from Afghan pilgrims wishing to make the Haj this year has caused heart burn amongst its competitors – both public and private banks – who say the process was not transparent.
Afghans hoping to make Islam’s most important pilgrimage in Mecca had to deposit 2,285 USD each with the Kabul Bank in order to participate in the draw which will decide the final list of pilgrims.
It is the first time that the Ministry of Haj has farmed out the collection process. The process was transparent, and all Afghan state and private banks were invited to bid, the ministry insists.
Dr Mohammad Yousof Niazi, Minister of Haj, says Kabul Bank emerged the winner because it was the only bidder willing to comply with all the ministry’s conditions.
Khalilullah Firouzi, CEO, Kabul Bank, told a press conference that his bank would comply with all the conditions of the contract. The dates for receiving money from pilgrims were from July 24 to August 2 in Kabul.
Pashtani Bank, which is state-owned, has lambasted the new process. Gul Maqsoud Sabet, its CEO says: “I have not received to date any invitation or letter from Ministry of Haj to attend such an auction.”
This year roughly 30,000 Afghan pilgrims will travel to Saudi Arabia for the Haj.
Apart from receiving money from pilgrims, Kabul Bank has agreed to transfer it to the ministry – which will use the money to pay all expenses for the pilgrims’ travel to Mecca – on the exchange rate of the day with no commission.
However, charges of impropriety plague the ministry’s decision to hand over the Haj account to Kabul Bank. Cornered officials in the Ministry of Haj blame state and private banks for not participating in the auction process.
Minister Niazi stresses that the bid was decided in the presence of Mohammad Karim Khalili, the country’s second vice-president who is in charge of the Haj National Committee, and yet some Afghan banks did not take part.
Azizi Bank and Da Afghanistan Bank sent representatives. Pashtani Bank’s Sabet says the Haj ministry has shown its ignorance of due process by inviting Da Afghanistan Bank. As Afghanistan’s central bank, he said it “cannot open an account for anyone.” The ministry should have invited Pashtani Bank and Bank-e-Millie, he argues.
Mr Sabet does not believe that the agreement with Kabul Bank was finalized without a sweetener to the Bank. “Obviously a commission was paid secretly or some other commercial profit was considered in this contract,” he insists, adding: “Pashtani Bank was ready to handle this process as a service to Afghans, and without a commission.”
Impropriety Allegations
Rebutting the allegations, Kabul Bank’s Firouzi says: “Kabul Bank is now providing banking services to the pilgrims without receiving any additional payment.”
According to him, Kabul Bank which has a presence in most provinces was prepared to receive, deliver and transfer pilgrims’ money without a commission. Those who fail the draw can reclaim their money three days after the draw.
The Kabul Bank’s 100 branches have been mobilized to assist Haj pilgrims, Firouzi says. “We are even ready to send our team to receive deposits from pilgrims in remote districts and villages across the country by helicopter.”
Meanwhile, Hajji Ali Akbar Jownday, deputy of Azizi Bank, declares that his bank had offered the same facilities as Kabul Bank, “but why Kabul Bank could win in this auction still remains unclear to us.”
In his opinion both Kabul Bank and Azizi Bank should have been jointly awarded the Haj account to widen the coverage in the country. The present method of collection was “unfair and incorrect” from the point of convenience for Haj pilgrims, he asserts.
In addition, he feels that the decision to take money from applicants before the draw “seems illegal”.
Jownday estimates that while some 30,000 Afghans are likely to go on the Haj this year, more than 100,000 people have applied. “Roughly 300 million dollars would have been deposited,” he calculates.
The Haj selection process has been plagued with corruption charges in recent years. Two ministers – Habibullah Qaderi, minister of transport in 2007, and Sediqullah Chakari, former minister of Haj – have been accused of embezzling money by the office of the Afghan attorney-general.
Chakari, who was prohibited from leaving the country, escaped abroad last year. The attorney general’s office has referred his case to Interpol.
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