Two senior govt officials accused of irregularities

KABUL on Saturday said the refugee minister had appointed an unqualified advisor to his ministry, and accused the Bamyan governor of bribery and distributing land to ineligible people.

The Minister of Refugee and Repatriate Affairs, Jamahir Anwari, had hired a high school graduate as legal advisor to the ministry, the upper house complaints commission head, Zalmai Zabuli told the Senate.

“A legal advisor should be a qualified and experienced person having at least a bachelor degree,” he said. “A nephew of the minister, who speaks English and Urdu languages, has been appointed as a marketing advisor and is paid 60,000 afghanis (1,214 $),” he added..

Zabuli said when the minister was summoned to brief senators on the appointments, he did not appear before the house.

However, Anwari insisted the advisors were eligible and appointed based on an agreement with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

He said the appointment had been made on the request of UNHCR which paid salaries to them.

Zabuli also accused Bamyan governor Habiba Surabi of discrimination toward other tribes, saying only Hazara tribesmen had shops and business in the provinces.

“The governor has not only deprived other tribes of their rights, but she had told them to leave the province,” he alleged.

“This is a sheer injustice and against the national interest, Zabuli said, adding he had received the complaints from other tribes residing in the Hazara-dominant province three months back.

“We have summoned the governor in this regard and she has promised to come, but did not appear,” he said. 

But the governor rejected Zabuli’s claims, saying she did allow people of other tribes to get shops and land without having ownership documents.

“I have accepted all documents which meet our standards and I did not accept any document of any tribe, which did not meet our standards,” she said. Twenty land ownership claims had been approved without any discrimination, she said.

Zabuli also said a snow-clearing company official had told him that the governor had asked him for $20,000 in bribe for a snow-clearing project.

The governor in this regard said: “If the company can prove the claim, I am ready to go to the office of prosecutor and accept whatever decision is taken.”

frm/ma

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