KABUL - Senators in Afghanistan’s Meshrano Jirga (the upper house of parliament) on Thursday criticized the Afghan government for its ambiguity towards the corruption case against the ex-minister of finance, Mohammad Humayun Qayoumi, who is accused of embezzling of 1.7 billion afs from an emergency funds allocation in the national budget.
Zalmay Zabuli, the head of the senate’s complaints commission said that there are serious allegations of corruption against Qayoumi, which include the embezzlement of 1.7 billion afs from "Code 91," and illegal appointments at customs in several provinces.
Back in October 2019, the senate’s complaints commission had referred Qayoumi to the Attorney General's Office following reports that Qayoumi had received a $255,000 salary from a private institute in the US in 2017.
At the time, Qayoumi was serving as the acting minister of finance and top adviser to President Ashraf Ghani.
Zabuli said that Ghani is "meddling" in the work of the legal and judicial institutions of the country and preventing them from addressing major corruption cases.
“Why are they doing such illegal things and interfering in the affairs of the parliament, when a minister is referred (to attorney general) with evidence to account for, the president himself gets involved in the case,” said Zalmay Zabuli, the head of parliament’s complaints commission.
“We should not politicize corruption cases, the president of Afghanistan firmly believes in the freedom of the legal and judicial institutions of the country when it comes to assessing corruption allegations,” said Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesman for President Ashraf Ghani.
But, the Attorney General Office says that no file has been lodged against Qayoumi within the body.  (TOLO NEWS)