Events in 5 provinces stress serious anti-graft war

KABUL (Pajhwok): Local people and officials in a number of provinces of the country have stressed serious fight against corruption and conduct of awareness-creating campaigns.

Statements against corruption were made during various gatherings organized by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and financed by Danish Embassy in Nangarhar, Kunar, Logar, Daikundi and Kapisa provinces. These meetings were attended by local officials, civil society activists, tribal elders and youths.

Nangarhar:

In a gathering in Nangarhar province marking International Anti-Corruption Day, a number of civil society activists expressed the hope that increasing public awareness would strengthen the fight against corruption.

The participants discussed ways to fight corruption and shared their suggestions.

Dr Asadullah Shaliz, head of the Support to Humanitarian Relief Organization, said the purpose of the gathering was to raise awareness against corruption and to mark the International Anti-Corruption Day.

He added that in the past one week, they organized various anti-corruption awareness programs that included printing and distributing anti-corruption brochures, a photo exhibition and some other programs.

Ayesha Kakar, a speaker at the event, emphasized that the fight against corruption should not be limited to slogans only and should be shown in practice.

She added, “Everyone knows that not doing people’s work on time in government organs, demanding bribe from people and making excuses are all corruption, but people still pay bribes to fasten their work. ”

Javed Karimi, deputy head of the Pashayi Youth Association in Nangarhar, hoped that public awareness gatherings and programs would help control corruption.

“If at least 10 people get corrected by public awareness programs and stopped corruption, the trend would spread countrywide and it would gradually help make our country graft-free”, he believed.

Kunar:

The International Anti-Corruption Day was also marked in Kunar province by youths and civil society activists during a meeting which was also attended by deputy governor, tribal elders and Islamic scholars.

Mohammad Shoaib Gharwal, head of Youths Civil Society Association in Kunar, said that corruption has damaged Afghanistan’s reputation on international level.

He said if practical measures were not taken to curb corruption, the international community could stop its assistance to the country and it would further damage the reputation of Afghan people.

Gharwal said foreign assistance to Afghanistan depended on anti-corruption efforts and asked government organs to curb graft by making their decisions public.

An Islamic scholar, Mulavi Ziaul Rahmanullah Yar, talked about how Islam discouraged corruption and asked the government to be honest in its fight against the menace.

“Corruption is still rampant in government organs and among people and officials concerned should make the country free of this bad reputation”, he added.

Kunar’s deputy governor Dr. Gul Mohammad Baidar said that the government had made effective efforts at rooting out corruption and it also created legal institutes for fighting the phenomenon.

Logar:

A day-long conference on fighting corruption was held in Logar province province by Afghan Women Resource Center (AWRC) which was attended by Governor Mohammad Ajmal Shahpoor and Provincial Council Head Haseebullah Stanekzai, other local officials, religious scholars, youths, women, civil society members and journalists.

Officials of the Cultural and Social Affairs Organization presented detailed information on the objectives of the conference and called on the participants to take an active part in the program.

Logar Governor Mohammad Ajmal Shahpoor thanked the organizers of the conference and said that fighting corruption was Islamic and national duty of every citizen.

He added that corruption was the mother of many problems in society and the Afghan people had long suffered from it.

“We and you are very fortunate people who live in an Islamic society and are Muslims. Based on this principle, we must work hard and try to follow the guidelines of Islam in coordinated fight against corruption to clean this mess,” he said.

Provincial Council Head Haseebullah Stanikzai also called for public cooperation in the fight against corruption and said that Islamic scholars and people should raise their voice against the menace.

Laghman:

International Anti-Corruption Day was also marked in Laghman province in a gathering organized by Movement for Protection Organization (MPO).

The gathering was attended by local officials, women and representatives of civil society institutes.

Ahmad Zia Gheyasi, head of MPO, addressing the gathering said that they had held various anti-corruption programs which had been effective in curbing the graft.

He said that the organization held programs regarding education, child protection, fighting corruption and other areas in many provinces including Laghman.

Provincial information and culture director, Awrang Samim, women affairs director, Nasimi Shafiq Sadat, education department representatives and officials from some other organs also attended the gathering.

Laghman deputy governor, Shahzada Mazlomyar, said that fighting corruption was his priority and the local administration would bring to justice those involved in corruption or facilitating it.

On December 9, Anti-Corruption Day is marked internationally. Fighting corruption is a global concern. While corruption impacts every country, evidence shows that it hurts poor people disproportionately.

Corruption hinders efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, undermines democracy and the rule of law, leads to violation of human rights, distorts markets, erodes quality of life and allows organised crime, terrorism and other threats to human security to flourish. It contributes to instability, poverty and is a dominant factor driving fragile countries towards state failure.

Daikundi

The International Anti-Corruption Day was celebrated in Daikundi province as well with the support of MPO.

Governor Mohammad Zia Hamdard said some corruption related cases had been investigated in Daikundi and efforts to eliminate corruption were underway in the province.

He said there is transparency in the recruitment process in Daikundi, the provincial government provide necessary information to journalists and strive for further improvement in this regard.

Muntazar Sharafat, head of the MPO organization, while stressing over corruption, said the purpose of this event was to provide necessary awareness to the masses on anti-corruption efforts.

Sakhi Saadat, a youth representative, said corruption existed in the government and as a result the society turned corrupt too.

He termed, discrimination, insecurity and poverty as major elements behind corruption and added the implementation of law, spreading public awareness and execution of corrupt elements in public places would help prevent corruption.

Mds/ma

Views: 40