It seems lack of political will is holding back efforts to root out administrative corruption.
On July 26, President Hamid Karzai issued a decree ordering all government ministries to give priority to the fight against corruption.
On July 26, President Hamid Karzai issued a decree ordering all government ministries to give priority to the fight against corruption.
The first dossier on corruption wasmade on Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal, the Minister of Finance. The report by the High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption (HOOAC) has demanded the minister should step down and submit his personal bank accounts for investigation.HOOAC head Azizullah Ludinhas established a commission that includes a representative from each of the anti-corruption offices, the Attorney General’s (AG’s) Office, Control and Audit Office and National Directorate of Security (NDS).
Zakhilwal has rejected the accusations and says the charges against him are a political conspiracy. “The accusation against me has a political root,” he told the press.
The minister has said the AG’s Office should investigate his bank and personal properties. If the claims made against him are not proved then action should be taken against his detractors.
Maze of agencies
The finance minister is the second minister accused of administrative corruption this year.
On April 24, Ludin’sHigh Office had also accused Minister of Water and Energy Muhammad Ismailof corruption but the dossier remains buried in the maze of anti-corruption offices.
Ezatullah Wasifi, head of the then General Independent Administration of Anti-Corruption, comments: “All the raised voices about administrative corruption are to deceive the public. No serious step is taken.”
There is no coordination between the various offices probing corruption, including the justice departments. As a result the follow-up is inconsistent.
Mohammad Sharif Sharifi, head of the Control and Audit Office, accuses the AG’s Office of doing nothing in the majority of cases. “Since I’ve been in charge we’ve sent 206 dossiers to the AG’s office, but we have received replies in only 10-12 cases.” He adds that despite repeated requests the AG’s office has not confirmed when all the dossiers will be returned.
Deputy AG Rahmatullah Nazari says, “According to the law, the AG’s office does not have to report to subordinate offices. Other offices have the responsibility of detecting corruption. Once they refer the case to us their responsibility ends. It is not mandatory for us to report on our follow-up to them.”
Crossed wires
Ludinblames the 12 anti-corruption offices set up in government ministries of not working in tandem with his office, and simply spending money.
He points to MEC(the Joint Anti-Corruption Monitoring and Evaluation Committee). Set up to supervise the (millions of dollars of) international assistance, he says it should have worked out of the HOOAC according to the decree under which it was established. “But they have established a separate place with their own budget …” Ludin told our reporter.
He insists MEC has nothing to show for the money it has spent. “I have not seen any activity by this office. For instance,MEC has three external and three internal members; they have a budget of 2.5 million USD. I have not seen what they have done. Only a proposal has reached us. Of its 30 pages, 15 pages were not related to them and the rest was not practical.”
Seema Ghani, the head of the MEC secretariat, insists, “We work according to the decree of the president and suggestions from the Paris, London and Kabul conferences. If somebody has any view about our office then that is their own view. We want to be partners with HOOAC.”
Free for all
Finance Minister Zakhilwal believes it is the various agencies responsible for checking corruption in the administration that are spreading the practice. “The numerous supervisory offices within customs and tax cause the corruption and not stem it. This is a problem!” he is quoted saying.
Nazari says the AG’s Office has dossiers which show members of the anti-corruption unit at the office of the Council of Ministers are involved in corruption.
Seema Ghani of MEC also hints at corruption in the HOOAC”When we travel to the provinces there are complaints about the High Office. People tell us its officers are creating corruption.”
Dr Azizullah Ludindismisses the charges. He says their work is transparent, and a record of everything they do is submitted in the dossier to the AG’s office. “If they say there is corruption in our office they should inform us and help us.”
There has been little progress in investigations into cases of corruption. Mohammad Shafiq Hamdam the head of Afghan Anti-Corruption Network says, in the last one decade “many commissions have been formed by the government. Staff have been employed, but unfortunately this looks like a court in which the judge, defendant and accused is one person. It means the government is itself the accused and it defends itself. That is why they have had no success.”
Corruption cases particularly against political heavyweights close to President Karzai have been put on the backburner. Some of those being probed by the AG’s office without results are Mohammad Sediq Chakari, the former minister of haj and donations; Hamidullah Farooqi and Enayatullah Qasimi, the former ministers of transport and aviation; Mohammad Amin Farhang, ex-minister of commerce and industry, Abdul Ahad Sahibi, former head of Kabul Municipality, Ahmad Zia Salehi, the former finance director of National Security Council, and Abdul Qadeer Fetrat, the head of Central Bank.
