President Hamid Karzai has issued a decree to end administrative corruption. While both officials inside and outside the government are not very sure how it will work, the president has promised the government order,
President Hamid Karzai has issued a decree to end administrative corruption. While both officials inside and outside the government are not very sure how it will work, the president has promised the government order, which is in divided in 33 parts with 164 articles, will be put into practice in all offices.The presidential decree calls on the National Assembly, as the highest legislative body, to assist the government in meeting its responsibilities by acceding to all “reasonable and legal requests”, supervise government actions, and implement the developmental projects considered to be in national interests.
Afghan parliamentarians have reacted in different ways. Fawzia Koofi, Member of Parliament (MP) from Badakhshan, wondered if the new decree meant that the government had so far not been serious about eliminating corruption. “The decree is funny … it is as if the government has declared that (before the decree) it had no intention of eliminating corruption,” she said.
Another MP, Fawzia Naseryar, was of the opinion that if the government were serious it would be able to tackle administrative corruption. The MP said there were individuals and institution, Afghan and foreign, who are worried the decree was against their interests. Naseryar did not identify them by name.
“The president should also show courage that he can act against people and institutions that disobey the decree,” she added.
Preparing for change
The presidential order has directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to scrutinise every case of violation of Afghan law or international treaty. A comprehensive list was to be sent to the council of ministers.
Is the ministry ready to implement the decree? Janan Musazai, the spokesman, said the ministry has already begun preliminary work on the report for the council.
Cleaning up home
The Ministry of Interior Affairs has been given two months to send a list of individuals who are accused of appropriating public property to the council of ministers.
The ministry has also been ordered to inspect the police structure; reintegrate all parallel structures into the local police as decided by the National Security Council; and report on both matters in three months to the council of ministers.
Also, the ministry has to review the draft security preparation plan in the light of the detailed process of transition within six months. Updates have to be sent every two months to the National Security Council and council of ministers.
Sidiq Sidiqi, the ministry’s spokesman, was optimistic he would meet all the deadlines.
Who is to decide what is Afghan?
The Ministry of Information and Culture has two months to present a plan in coordination with all partners including the office of the governor of Ghazni for the completion of work on the prestigious Islamic Cultural Centre in the provincial capital.
The ministry has to also draw up a plan to preserve and strengthen “accepted” Afghan customs, languages and culture and weed out unfamiliar “external idioms”. The ministry has three months to present a report to the council of ministers.
Parts of this order have been strongly criticised by Afghanistan’s independent media, which sees it as signs of “despotism” by the president. They believe that the government wants to tie the hands and feet of the free media through the decree on “external idioms”.
Mujeeb Khelwatgar who spoke on behalf of Nai (independent media watch) said under the law the media commission was the only authority to police the media. “But the government wants to challenge the freedom of expression and media by setting rules outside the law,” he adds.
In Khelwatgar’s opinion the government will not be combating corruption but sabotaging the process.
Lost time
Under the decree the Attorney General’s (AG’s) office has six months to evaluate all supporting and professional staff, identify those who are corrupt and take action against them.
In addition the AG’s office has to investigate and review all lawsuits against individuals in custody within two months. The president has ordered that all offices of the AG in the districts and provincial capitals must be fully staffed and working in the next six months.
Abdul Ghafar Orfani, the spokesman of the AG’s office, was candid. He thought the deadlines would be impossible to meet. “A journey that takes 10 years cannot be completed in two or six months!” he told Killid.
Does the government have the will?
The decree has requested the High Office of Anti-Corruption headed by Azizullah Ludin to supervise the plan to combat administrative corruption in governmental offices and the private sector and send the results to the president office. Properties of governmental authorities whose ownership is in doubt should be reported to the office of the president in six months.
Ludin is doubtful about the implementation of the decree. There are people within the government who will sabotage the process because corruption has become an addiction for some people, he says. Until the corrupt are dismissed nothing will change, he believes.
