KABUL (SW): The Independent Joint Anti-Corruption Monitoring and Evaluation Committee (MEC) blamed a number of ministries and government departments on Thursday for not cooperating in curbing the endemic corruption.
The MEC criticized the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in particular for not responding to a number of quarries. This anti-corruption watchdog lauded the measures taken at the Ministry of Refugee and Repatriates, the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Urbna Development Affairs and the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
“The recruitment process at the MoFA should be evaluated, a number of pople appointed there are relatives of the either parliamentarians or other influential figures”, Yama Turrabi, MEC founder and Board Member of the Integrity Watch Afghanistan, said on the occasion.
The watchdog said, though some progress in regard to anti-corruption has undoubtedly been made, such as the sacking of various corrupt officials and the ongoing reform of the procurement regime, much work remains to be done if Afghanistan is to evolve into a corruption-free country capable of attracting foreign investment and providing a prosperous future for its citizens.
Unfortunately, notwithstanding billions in foreign investment, the justice sector remains largely incapable of investigating and prosecuting corruption cases, especially against well-connected individuals who operate with near impunity, secure in the knowledge that they are effectively above the law, it said.
As MEC’s April 2015 corruption-case tracking report points out, one reason for this is that various actors within the judicial system often fail to cooperate with one another, preventing the effective investigation of alleged crimes and resulting in cases sometimes getting lost as they are transferred from agency to agency.
On the positive side, the watchdog noted that the recent 100-Day Plans produced by government agencies provide evidence that some Afghan ministries are beginning to integrate anti-corruption measures into their standard operating procedures.
Link to MEC's detailed report: http://www.mec.af/files/2015_09_17_Eighth_Six-Month_Report_(English).pdf
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