KABUL (SW) – Each male member of the Loya Jirga received at least AFN 30,000 while each female participants received at least AFN 55,000 as travel allowance.
This is an estimate a number of participants from across the country told Salam Watandar. Considering the reported number of participants from across the country, a simple calculation showed at least AFN 123 million were spent on
According to the members of the Consultative Loya Jirga ufor Peace, this allowance varied with the distance corresponding province, security situation and the acquaintance of the participants with the leadership at the moot.
The organizational committee of the LJ did not provide exact statistics on travel expenses, but Hujjatullah Mujaddidi, the commission's chief of operations and spokesman, said that the process of distributing travel expenses was still ongoing therefore final figures could not be shared.
On the other hand, officials from the State Ministry of Peace Affairs said that it is ‘too early’ to share any information about the exact amount that the members of the Loya Jirga received. The Ministry spokesperson Najia Anwari said 3,490 people from across the country participated in the Jirga, of which 732 were women.
Some citizens say that the Jirga was nothing more than a ‘show’, and that the decision to release the prisoners had already been made by the Americans.
Karim Khurram, a close aide to former President Hamid Karzai, wrote on his Twitter account that the Jirga had issued an appropriate resolution, however all but 165 prisoners had been released before the end of the Jirga.
Earlier, President Ghani’s move to allocate funds for the Jirga was sharply criticized by many citizens.
ENDS
