Govt cautiously responds to SIGAR corruption report

KABUL (SIGAR) report on corruption, the Afghan government on Thursday said rapid efforts at fighting the menace had begun and reforms had been brought to many sectors.

SIGAR in a report released on Wednesday said questions remained regarding the Afghan government’s ability to fully implement its anti-corruption strategy and other reforms.

“While the strategy is a positive step, it has weaknesses and it does not meet some international standards and best practices,” the report said.

It said Kabul’s anti-graft strategy primarily focused on 15 “priority” ministries but had left ‘unclear’ the role of Afghanistan’s largest ministry, the Ministry of Defense.

The audit said 58 percent (38 of 66) of the goals discussed in Afghanistan’s anti-corruption strategy lacked corresponding benchmarks to evaluate implementation progress.

On the other hand, some American media outlets alleged that a number of Afghan forces had sold their weapons, ammunition and even Humvee vehicles to militants.

Brig. Gen. Mohammad Radminsh, acting defense ministry spokesman, about SIGAR report, said the defense ministry had struggled a lot to combat corruption and that transparency had come to some areas.

Addressing a press conference here, he said: “Our efforts for fully eradicating corruption from the Ministry of Defense would continue based on the four-year plan.”

He said efforts at fighting corruption in the Ministry of Interior were also underway. “The part which was a source of corruption has already been reformed and even their personnel changed”, he said.

“Secondly, our struggle for chasing those who are involved in corruption is underway as cases of 200 figures are currently under process at our investigative bureau,” he concluded.

mds/ma

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