News Analysis: Administrative corruption remains hurdle for Afghan government

In addition to the continuing Taliban threat, the unabated administrative corruption in Afghanistan has remained the biggest stumbling block to the economic and political reforms enunciated by the unity government of President Mohammad Asraf Ghani.

Analysts here said that the challenge to rid the government of corruption is all the more daunting now that Afghanistan is left to its own in managing its development and security projects with the departure of foreign forces.

Upon assuming office in September last year, President Mohammad Ghani vowed to fight public corruption and implement wide-ranging reforms to ensure good governance in the country, an announcement that was widely welcomed by Afghans.

As a major step to fight corruption, the president ordered the Attorney General's Office to resume investigation of the Kabul Bank scandal and to bring to court all those responsible for bringing the country's first and largest private bank to the verge of collapse in 2010.

However, local analysts have expressed their disappointment since several months after the President's announcement, nobody from the Kabul Bank has been hauled to court.

"Corruption is the mother of all social evils, ranging from drug trafficking to terrorist attacks," Azarakhsh Hafizi, a respected economic analyst, told local media recently.

Hafizi said Afghanistan would not be able to achieve lasting peace prosperity unless the government is able to eliminate or at least minimize corruption in government and non-government entities.

Donor nations have announced their support to Afghanistan in international conferences through what they termed as " transformation decade" that spans from January 2015 to 2024. However, these donors have linked giving assistance to the success in the government's fight against corruption.

Even after the NATO-led forces left Afghanistan in late 2014, international financial institutions have pledged continued support to the war-ravaged country.

During an international aid conference in Japan in July 2012, the donor countries pledged more than 16 billion U.S. dollars in development aid for Afghanistan through 2015.

The U.S. and its NATO allies also promised almost the same amount to support the Afghan army and police after the pullout of their troops from the country.

Donor countries have urged the Afghan government to step up its fight against rampant corruption and to utilize foreign assistance wisely for the development of the country.

Analysts said that administrative corruption is the country's second biggest problem after security.

Billions of U.S. dollars have been injected into Afghanistan since the collapse of Taliban regime in late 2001. However, Afghanistan is still among the poorest nations in the world.

The extreme level of corruption in the country has made Afghanistan a consistent topnotcher in the "World's Most Corrupt" list. The country ranks at the bottom of Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index, along with Sudan, North Korea and Somalia.

Analysts lamented that at present the law against corruption is often implemented against the weak citizens while influential figures enjoy immunity. "This culture of impunity among the influential Afghans should be stopped if the government hopes to succeed in its anti-corruption drive," one analyst said.

"It is imperative that the international community speaks out against corruption in Afghanistan. Corruption fills the pockets of the rich and powerful, while the poor starve. It stops creation of jobs and investments from coming in," Franz-Michael Mellbin, the European Union special envoy and Head of the European Union Delegation in Afghanistan, said Monday.

Mellbin said that corruption undermines the legitimacy of the Afghan state in the eyes of its own people and helps feed insurgency.

"The extreme level of corruption threatens international support to the Afghan nation and is an increasing concern to the European Union. We are a long-term friend of Afghanistan and the Afghan people. We are here for the long-haul and we have pledged to continue our exceptional level of financial assistance until at least 2020," Mellbin said.

Mellbin pointed out that the European Union and other international donors have high expectations from the Afghan government.

"The European Union and other international partners are one with the Afghan government in curing endemic corruption in the country. We stand ready to work with President Ghani, who recently referred to corruption as a national shame. It is important for us to know that the money we invest goes into the right pockets," Mellbin stressed.

Mellbin's comments came days after a local anti-corruption body --Independent Joint Anti-Corruption and Evaluation Committee (MEC)- -recently raised serious concerns on the rise of corruption in the country, claiming that "the government does not have the proper strategy to fight the menace." Endi