KABUL - A Wolesi Jirga or lower house member on Monday said 70 percent of appointments made at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) during the past two years had been illegal and without considering the hiring standards.
Dr. Jafar Mahdavi, a lawmaker from Kabul and deputy head of the Wolesi Jirga commission on international affairs, told a session in Kabul that about two months back the Wolesi Jirga tasked a delegation under his leadership to assess MoFA’s functioning.
According to him, the delegation investigated the performance of the MoFA’s Human Resources department between solar years 1394 and 1395.
“We reviewed all the documents and found that 70 percent of appointments at the ministry made by the minister of foreign affairs, President Ashraf Ghani and CEO Abdullah Abdullah were all illegal.”
He didn’t specify how many appointments had been made to the MoFA in the past two years, but said 70 percent of the appointments were conducted without taking exams.
Without going into details, he said: “We found several cases in which individuals from the sewage and water supply department are hired as diplomats. It is why our foreign policy is paralyzed, we have some cadres in low level positions who have higher education.”
He said the Wolesi Jirga delegation wanted to share its findings with a general session of the Wolesi Jirga, but tribal negotiations caused the matter not to be brought to the assembly. He didn’t provide information about the negotiations.
Abdul Qadar Zazai Watandost, another member of the commission, confirmed Mahdavi’s remarks.
Omaid Misom, deputy CEO spokesman, refused to comment on the matter and suggested the ministry should be asked about it.
Pajhwok contacted MoFA spokesman Shakib Ahmad Mustaghni, however, he said his deputy Khairullah Azad would talk about this, as he (Mustaghni) was on leave.
Efforts at seeking comments from Khairullah Azad and the Presidential Palace didn’t succeed as contact with them could not be established. (Pajhwok)