KABUL (SW) – Salam Watandar has obtained evidence indicating at least 134 former members of parliament have not yet surrendered the security equipment and resources even after completing their term in office.
It includes about 417 Kalashnikovs, 138 pistols, 13 mini-trucks, 75 sets of telecommunication devices, 152 telecommunication jammers, 17 40-foot containers, 40 bundles of barbed wire, 4 concrete barriers, 3 electronic gates and some other security equipment that has not yet been returned to the parliament’s security department.
Among the former MPs charged with not returning these items include Syed Anwar Sadat, minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Mohammad Zakaria Soda, governor of Badakhshan, Mohammad Ishaq Rahgzar, governor of Balkh, Naqibullah Fayek, governor of Faryab, Farhad Azimi, ambassador of Afghanistan to Kazakhstan, Mohammad Almas Zahed, senior advisor to the President, Assadollah Saadati, the second deputy head of the National Reconciliation Council, Shukria Barakzai, Haley Ershad, Mohammad Zahir Qadir, Homayoun Homayoun and Mulla Tarakhail.
Officials at the Wolesi Jirga (lower house) said those who responded to the government's request for surrender of security equipment negatively have been notified in official letters to the presidency, the interior ministry, the National Directorate of Security and the Attorney General's Office, but none of them have returned the security equipment.
Abdul Zahir Qadir, a former representative of the people of Nangarhar, is at the top of this list in with 15 Kalashnikovs, 18 pistols, 32 communication sets and 6 jammers.
When contacted, Abdul Qadir Zazi Watandust, the secretary of the parliament's secretariat, said that these former parliamentarians did not pay attention to multiple requests and letters in this regard.
However, Naqibullah Fayek, the governor of Faryab, told Salam Watandar that he surrendered all such resources after receiving a notification from police headquarters in the province.
Among the former MPs, Gul Padshah Majidi said no official letter has reached him either from the parliament, the interior ministry or other relevant institutions. According to him, due to the high security threats, these MPs have not yet handed over the security items, but they are ready to return if the government demands.
Masoma Khavari, another lawmaker, said she had recently returned all of the items she had acquired temporarily as an MP during her term.
Analysts believe that not handing over government equipment and facilities after the end of the term is a violation of the law. According to them, such equipment can easily be misused for crimes and causing unrest.
Mirza Mohammad Yarmand, a former deputy interior and intelligence officer, said: "If a public representative is appointed elsewhere, he must hand over the equipment to the parliament, because he/ she will be entitled to new set of items as per the new post. Now, those former parliamentarians who are appointed abroad as ambassadors do not need security measures here, but others who are governors have the right under the law, and the police have to provide security for them”, he said.
The interior ministry did not respond to Salam Watandar's calls for comments.
Jamshid Rasouli, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, told Salam Watandar that there are no such cases pending against any former MP.
In this report, we wanted to have the views of the MPs accused of the charges, including Abdul Zahir Qadir, but they were either abroad, or did not answer their phone calls. Some of them, including Mohammad Ishaq Rahgzar, Ahmad Behzad and a number of other former WJ members promised to comment, but later they refused to talk.
ENDS
