11pc of unity govt led by 62 acting officials

KABUL (Pajhwok): From the beginning of the national unity government until now, 62 people have worked as acting ministers for a few days to up to two and a half years in 25 ministries, Pajhwok Afghan News has learnt.

According to Pajhwok findings, 44 of these acting ministers held their acting duty from one to 29 months in violation of the law. Acting duties in government offices end after completion of two months period, according to the law.

According to Article 64 of the Constitution, appointment of ministers, attorney general, head of the central bank, head of National Directorate of Security and head of the Afghan Red Crescent Society, is authority of the president with approval of the Wolesi Jirga or lower house of the parliament.

However, Pajhwok findings show the article 64 of the Constitution was not cared about enough since the national unity government came into power on September 29, 2014.

Besides some departments, 25 ministries were led by acting officials during the national unity government’s tenure.

The Afghan government has 25 ministries, but the counternarcotics ministry was integrated with the interior ministry and transport ministry merged with public works ministry in recent past.

All of these ministries were led by acting officials for some time.

Considering 56 months of the national unity government, Pajhwok findings show during this period for 11 days of each 100 days, the government activities were led by acting officials.

The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum was mostly led by acting officials while the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation was least led by acting officials.

Sixty-two acting ministers

The findings show that 10 of 62 acting ministers stayed in their acting positions for longer time than others or (from about 11 months to 31 months)

Ten people, including Hamayoon Qaiumi, has worked as acting minister of finance for 10 months and Inatullah Nazari has previously worked as acting defense minister for nine months. The remaining people stayed in office as acting ministers for about eight months each.

They included Abdul Ghafoor Liwal acting minister of border and tribal affairs, Mohammadullah Batash acting minister of transport, Mohammad Asif Rahimi as acting minister of agriculture, irrigation and livestock, Mohammad Usman Babari acting minister of higher education, Husn Banu Ghazanfar, acting minister of women affairs,  Wasil Noor Mohmand acting minister public works, Aqa Jan Naeem, as acting minister of public health, Muzamil Shinwari, as acting minister for trade and Hukum Khan Habibi, as acting minister of economy and each worked for almost eight months.

Some ministers stayed in office in acting capacity for around six months.

Pajhwok findings show each Ahmad Shah Sadsat as acting minister of telecommunications and information technology, Mohammad Jawad Peikar, as acting minister of rural development and Roshan Walsmal as acting minister of urban development worked for six months.

Asadullah Khalid as acting minister of defense and Mohammad Asif Nang as acting minister of education both worked for five months.

Mohammad Ibrahim Shinwari, acting minister of education, Haroon-ur-Rashid Shirzad, as acting minister of drugs and narcotics, Abdul Hakim Munib, as acting minister of hajj and religious affairs,  Ghulam Nabi Farahi, as acting minister of Culture and Information, Sayed Ahmad Haqbeen, as acting minister of border and tribal affairs,  Salim Khan Kunduzi, as acting minister of agriculture,  Kamal Sadat, as acting minister of information and culture, Hamid Jalil, as acting minister of Urban Development, Ajmal Ahmadi, as acting minister of commerce and industry and Ghulam Farooq Wardak as acting  minster of education worked for four months each.

Eight people worked as acting ministers for three months.

Masood Andrabi as acting minister of interior, FaizullahZaki as acting minister of transport, Abdul Latif Roshan as acting minister of higher education, Abdul Rahman Salai as acting minister of water and energy, Musdaq Khalili as acting minister of information and culture, Abbas Basir as acting minister of public works, Kamila Siddiqui as acting minister of trade and Barna Karimi as acting minister of telecommunications each of them worked for three months.

Nine people worked as acting minister for two months.

Fazal Ahmad Azimi, as acting minister of refugee, Zirar Ahmad Muqbil Usmani, as acting minister of finance, Daiulhaq Abid as acting minster of hajj and religious affairs, Mir Ahmad Javid Sadat, as acting minister of mines and petroleum, Tariq Ismati, as acting minister of urban and rural and rehabilitation, Ghulam Farooq Qadari Zadah, as acting minster of water and energy and Sayed Anwar Sadat, as acting minister of public works each worked for two months.

Seven people worked as acting for one month.

Baryali Hassam, as acting minister of telecommunication, Shakir Kargar, as acting minister of business, Ghulam Ali Rasikh, as acting minister of transport, Noor Gul Mangal, as acting minister of public works, Amrullah Salih, as acting minister of interior, Hamdullah Mohib, as acting minister of interior and Zalmay Younisi as acting minister of education each worked for one month.

Recently, Sayed Fahim Hashimi was appointed new acting minister of telecommunication and Abdul Tawab Bala Karzai as acting minister of higher education.

Currently, 14 ministries are being headed by acting ministers.

Currently, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Mines and Petroluem, Education, Energy, Information and Cultural Affairs, Finance, Urban Affairs, Hajj and Religious Affairs, Trade and Commerce, Interior, Social Affairs, Works, Communication and Information Technology and Higher Education headed by acting ministers.

The previous Wolesi Jirga often asked the government to eradicate the culture of acting ministers and refer the acting officials to the lower house for the vote of confidence.

The current Wolesi Jirga took charge of the house last month but unable to convene its session due to differences over the speaker position which is a key place.

Acting leadership causes breach of the law and interrupt provision of services

Shahla Farid, a law lecturer at Kabul University, said the government through promoting the policies of acting ministers not only violated the law but also undermined the rights of citizens, adding acting leadership caused several hurdlers in discharging the affairs of the state.

When asked that why the government acting against the law in this regard she said: “The power sharing nature of the government between the president and the Chief Executive Officer is one reason behind the continuation of leadership of acting officials while another reason was that the president wanted to manipulate the power so that he would have the last say in approval and disapproval affairs.”

Another University Lecturer Wadir Safi said: “Your survey showed that government officials violated the law because in line with the law no acting minister shall stay beyond two months in office.”

Referring to Acting Foreign Minister’s SalahuddinRabbani presence he said Rabbani had been serving as acting minister from that past 900 days as a result Afghanistan’s foreign politics is multiplied to zero and most of the top diplomats were unprofessional.

According to Pajhwok’s findings the Foreign Ministry had been run for 31 months, Petroluem and Mining Ministry for 26 months whiel the Energy and Water Ministry for 12 months by the acting ministers.