Over 460 MoFA workers hired based on nepotism: MEC

KABUL (Pajhwok): A new investigation shows more than 460 people have been employed informally and based on nepotism in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).

As part of the investigation by Anti-Corruption Monitoring and Evaluating Committee (IJACMEC), also known as MEC, 10 MoFA departments were assessed from September 2017 to January 2019.

The findings of the survey show a large number of employees and diplomats in the MoFA had been hired based on their political affiliation, bribery and connections.

The survey shows the MoFA hired more than 490 workers between 2011 and 2017 while the absolute majority or 466 of them were hired informally, without passing a test.

The survey also reveals that 164 of total 1,060 MoFA workers serve in different positions of their majors.

Other part of the investigation reveals that some workers of the ministry have been on positions illegally for 18 to 21 years.

Bari Salam, a MEC commissioner, said, “A number of MoFA workers, almost eight percent, are employed as diplomats in foreign countries without having the required education or they have just graduated from high school or 14 years of study.”

“Our findings show the employment process in the MoFA is seriously influenced by political interferences and the ministry received serious damage to its reputation as a result during the last one decade,” he added.

Salam said the ministry had taken measures to hire qualified figures to different positions, a move he said would be implemented in near future.

He lamented some temporary workers employed abroad refused to return, saying that a number of foreign ministry workers who were sent to India, Kazakhstan, Switzerland, England and Czech Republic on a temporary basis did not return.

“Using formal missions for immigrating to foreign countries is a major allegation against the MoFA. As many as 212 of such workers did not return from foreign countries during the last one decade and their contracts were cancelled in their absence, this damaged Afghanistan’s credibility,” he added.

The employment process of workers and sending them abroad is generally faced with serious problems because laws and regulations are not implemented properly, he said, adding that no educational, commercial or language test and diplomatic courses were implemented for MoFA workers.

Political pressures, bribery and concessions persist in the ministry and there is still need for deeper investigation on this regard, Salam added.

The ministry also suffers from lack of a proper human resource management system based on which employees are hired or sent abroad in a transparent manner, he added.

However, Sibghatullah Ahamdi, MoFA spokesman, said the ministry hired its employees based on diplomatic and consular worker law.

He termed the MEC report as inaccurate, one sided and against all academic values, and said, “Some of the figures who had prepared this report wanted to work in this ministry and they made this report because they were rejected.”

“I can surely say even a single employee of the MoFA is not under graduation, a number of workers with lower education levels were fired from the ministry and introduced to other areas,” he said.

Ahmadi said the ministry used to send officers abroad who could speak and understand foreign languages.

The MEC prepared this report in 2018 but it did not publish it due some reasons but Pajhwok Afghan News obtained a part of it and published it.

mds/ma

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