KABUL (SW) – First vice president Mohammad Sarwar Danish on Wednesday said the government has failed to root out corruption.
Addressing a conference in connection with the International Anti-Corruption Day, he said the corruption has gained roots in institutions over the past many years, and has led to the spread of poverty in the society.
He added this social evil has also contributed to other crimes such as smuggling, war and violence. Danish described the fight against corruption as one of the top priorities of the government. He said that a number of serious steps have been taken towards it.
Danish described the investigative reporting by press in this regard as one of the key elements in fighting corruption.
Speaking on the occasion, Mette Knudsen, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark to Afghanistan, said the poor in the Afghan society have been forced to pay most of the bribes. She said in the year 2018 alone, the poor citizens paid some $ 1.7 billion worth of bribe to the officials.
Finance minister Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal told the conference that as part of the counter-corruption drive, around 2 thousand officials have been referred to the legal institutions for further investigations.
Head of the recently appointed High Commission for Anti-Corruption Abdul Qayum Nizami said on his term that one of the reason behind corruption in the country was existence of parallel institutions.
ENDS
