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Projects,
spending must be transparent Fahim Dashty The Paris
Conference ended with a pledge of $21.4 billion for the next five years.
Separately, the government has received pledges totalling $20 billion.
Coupled with $7 billion from expected internal revenues, a total of $50
billion will go towards implementing the Afghanistan National Development
Strategy. The outcome of
the Paris Conference can be considered a major success for the
administration. Donors raised the issue of government corruption and said
more needs to be done to curb abuses. The government has also raised concerns
about corruption, but no action has been taken in the last six year. Although
many officials were accused of corruption, not a single top official was
charged with corruption or dismissed over the years. Meanwhile, there
are two critical challenges facing the successful implementation of the ANDS First, the
government must publicize details of the ANDS so that the public knows about
development plans, their time frames and their costs. After returning
from Paris Conference, President Karzai said that major part of the funds
will be spend on development and improvement of the agriculture sector and
energy production. Still the public needs to have a detailed explanation of
the ANDS. Providing details to the public will help them to judge if the
government is successful in its project implementation? It will also make it
clear to the public which government institution succeeded and which ones
failed. Consequently,
responsibility for the oversight of the ANDS’ implementation will fall to the
parliament. At the same time it will be easier for Parliament to increase
accountability and transparency among government institutions. With a clear
idea about the ANDS, legislators will have a better vision about the
responsibilities of government institutions and in case of failure, the
Parliament will be able to question officials and hold them accountable. To date, the ANDS
has not bee discussed by legislators, and it's possible that Parliament will
make some amendments to the ANDS when it comes time to review the document.
Because the ANDS was supported and approved by the international community
and Afghan government, it is not clear if Parliament will make changes to it
or if donor countries will accept Parliament's changes. Experience shows that
new proposals by the government’s other branches are challenged and rejected
by donor countries. Second, the issue
of corruption remains. Although the Afghan government established
institutions to counter corruption the fact remains that corruption has not
been curbed. After returning from Paris, President Karzai said that a new
institution and even a new police force specialized in corruption issues will
be formed by his administration. Given the level of corruption and
involvement of top officials, it doesn't seem that taking such actions will
prove effective. One the
principles of management is if the top manager is not involved in corruption,
then second-level employees will not dare to abuse their power. Or even if
they do, levels of corruptions will drop or occur in secret. If the government
really wants to tackle corruption, as a first step the institution where
corruption is blatant should be addressed first. The work of this institution
must be seriously reviewed and audited. There is not doubts that if millions
of dollars or afghanis are being wasted through institutional waste,
embezzlement or in other ways, top officials of this institution are
certainly involved. The government must treat corruption cases seriously and
bring criminals to justice. This will mean keeping the promise made to the
international community and regaining the Afghan public's trust. In a press
conference Sunday, President Karzai talked about possible changes at various
levels. Some top officials also confirmed the existence of such a plan and
said that changes will take place soon. The current
government does not have enough of time to implement its plans. The upcoming
elections are close, and if the government is unable to take action, the
President's re-election bid will be in doubt. The government must take
serious and fundamental actions in the fight against corruption and dismiss
corrupt government officials. Obviously
corruption reaches beyond the government structure. Participants of the Paris
Conference also discussed corruption and waste by international institutions.
Both the Afghan government and international community must take actions in
this direction and share their findings with Afghans. People will not
be cheated again by empty promises. They want to see action and results.
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