Afghanistan Times
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KABUL: Citizens have grumbled over the escalation of administrative corruption in government offices while President Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday said Afghanistan has lost a ‘golden opportunity’ due to graft.
Some citizens said that until they don’t offer bribe, their applications are not processed, adding that they are fed up with this menace.
“I am Shir Afghan Sherzai, a resident of Kabul. If you have any kind of task, even following up on your retirement, at a government organization, you must bribe the officials. In case you don’t do so, your work might be postponed for years to deal with.”
Another Kabul inhabitant, Mir Afghan, said: “The corruption is widespread. It exists everywhere: in courts, at prosecutor’s offices, and all government offices. We hope, God willing, that this epidemic is eliminated.”
Afghanistan is one of the most corrupt country across the world. The international community has always asked the Afghan government to take remedial measures against this phenomenon.
The 2018 Report of the Transparency International shows that Afghanistan ranks 172 among the 180 countries across the globe when it comes to corruption. According to this report, Afghanistan is the second-most corrupt country in Asia after North Korea.
Meanwhile, President Ghani acknowledged that Afghan people had a ‘golden opportunity’ at hand but it went in vain due to corruption.
Speaking at the Fifth Annual European Union Anti-Corruption Conference on Wednesday, he said, “What corruption has cost us? The most crucial loss we incurred was losing national and international trust. There has been no lecture given to the Afghan government at a conference to focus on corruption.”
Ghani emphasized on the role of accountability, saying it was difficult to proceed without it. He called on the Afghan people to help the government in eradicating administrative corruption in Afghanistan.
