CSO head insults IT minister, threatens to fire him

KABUL (Pajhwok): Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology (MCIT) officials say their minister was insulted and threatened by the Central Statistics Organization (CSO) director general.

A credible source in the MCTI told Pajhwok Afghan News that Alokozay Groups of Company (AGC) wanted to make major investments in the telecom sector.

In this regard, the source said, High Economy Council (HEC) directed Telecom and IT minister Shahzad Gul Aryubi, Afghanistan Telecom Regulatory Authority (ATRA) head Najibullah Azizi, CSO director general Ahmad Javid Rasouli, National Procurement Authority (NPA) head and a lawmaker Seddiqullah Osmani to hold a meeting and review documents of AGC for a final decision.

The source said after emphasis from the AGC, Aryubi organized a meeting of the mentioned figures on March 25, but Rasouli and the NPA head did not participate.

“Aryubi contacted Rasouli and told him to attend their next meeting so they review the AGC documents, but Rasouli responded by saying Mr. minister don’t waste your time in meetings because you (Aryubi) would be fired soon,” the official said.

He said Rasouli did not stop here and ending the telephone call said, “I will kick you out of the ministry like a dog as I did Hamayon Mohtat and Wais Payab.”

The MCIT official said they were ready to provide all evidence regarding the telephonic call to prove the claim.

On the other hand, Javid Rasouli denied insulting the IT minister. “It is right I was part of the team to review documents of the AGC but I did not insult anyone, these allegations are baseless,” he said.

In response to a question, Rasouli said, “I did not attend the meeting because we had already done enough discussion on the issue in HEC meeting and there was no need for further talks.” He said they sent their views about AGC (to the ministry) through email.

mds/ma