Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Stop Accusations, Fight Corruption

We have all witnessed how corruption has gone deep in the system of Afghanistan in the ten years. Now, it seems like almost all organizations are somehow involved in one or other forms of corruption. The problem is more severe in government offices where watchmen to the highest ranks are corrupt and there must be very few exceptions. The West has used corruption in Afghanistan as tool to pressurize the Karzai administration whenever there has been a political need for such pressure. At the same time the government of Afghanistan not only has rejected the accusation that it is responsible for the deep-rooted corruption but also holds the Western countries responsible for this.

In Karzai's view, his government has no control over the huge number of contracts signed directly between Western countries and private companies. A few weeks ago President Karzai said that the Afghan government was not responsible for the vast corruption in his country but the West. He gave the example of Communist government in Afghanistan when there was no corruption because the USSR had no such willingness to lead Afghanistan towards corruption. But the Afghan administration has no proper answer for the biggest example of corruption in Afghanistan i.e. the collapse of the Kabul Bank. Insufficient oversight from government is a main reason behind this huge national loss and west had nothing to do with it.

West and Karzai administration keep accusing each other for causing Afghanistan fall in the list of the most corrupt countries of the world. Meanwhile the real problem gets worse with each year passing. Corruption is only adding to the suffering of Afghan people and both the international community and Karzai government are committed to overcome it. Keeping the current standing against corruption in view, one can easily feel the lack of political will required to fight this evil phenomenon. Low to high level corruption needs strategic planning and serious action and one can not expect such a thing from current government as its performance has been quite weak in the last years – even election which is conceived the most crucial pillar of democracy goes marred with corruption in Afghanistan.