KABUL (SW): President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani has said the National Unity Government (NUG) is striving hard to ensure security of Kabul in six months’ time.
He was addressing the 20th Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board (JCMB) Meeting at the Arg (Presidential Palace) on Sunday. Ghani said the concerns about security are legitimate. He said new security measures have already been introduced, and over the next weeks, security would be enhanced in the city through more rigorous inspections; better traffic control to allow better monitoring and block infiltration; and stepped up training for the security and intelligence forces operating in Kabul. “As the initial months will be difficult, I ask the citizens of Kabul to grant the NUG, six months to ensure the security of this city”, he said.
The President said corruption, bad governance, impunity, and reactive politics are fundamental obstacles to achieving the type of state that the citizens desire. Reform is not an option, it is an imperative, he added. Ghani said the sense of grievance is increasingly taking on an ethnic form. “We cannot underestimate the potential destructiveness of ethnic polarization. As always, a polarized society can be manipulated by unscrupulous leaders and entrepreneurs who would sacrifice the national interest for their personal gain. We cannot allow this”, he added.
Ghani stressed the NUG cannot allow this poison to spread. “As part of my consultation and outreach to the people, I will be leading a national dialogue that will bring people’s concerns into the sunlight so that we can debate them freely, and collectively stop the polarization of our country. And in the areas that are under our direct control – our government policies, investments, and staffing – we will be keeping a close watch to make sure that all groups are treated fairly and represented as the equal citizen that is the birthright of every Afghan and is the guarantee of our Constitution”.
ENDS
