Over the last few years, it has become evident that President Hamid Karzai does not have any strong political will to stamp out corruption from the administration he is running. This happens while corruption is a major scourge and leads to wastage of international aid money. International community has been providing aid for Afghanistan to rebuild and develop itself but the money is often siphoned off.

As a result, there are questions about international aid effectiveness in Afghanistan. President Karzai and his government often make commitments to fight corruption but what we see is a failure and a continued increase in corruption and bribery.

History shows that only people and masses can bring down dictators, corrupt officials and overthrow corrupt government. The Arab Spring that still continues in some countries and has already led to the fall of three dictators in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

In Afghanistan, government officials are corrupt both at the central and local levels. President Karzai continues to appoint those who are linked to his own patronage network and is unable to control and curb corruption in the center as well as in the provinces.

On Sunday, May 13, 2014, hundreds of people waged protest against corruption in the local administrations. The protestors called for dismissal of Gulab Mangal, Helmand provincial governor. In Afghanistan, the governors are not elected and they are appointed by the President in the capital.

So they do not feel accountable to the people. They instead feel indebted to the President. In the meanwhile, hundreds of people in Takhar province staged similar protests and called for dismissal of local officials. Afghan people in the provinces seem to have become tired of corruption and inefficiency in the government.

They are also tired of the government’s failure to provide security for the people. This is the first time that we see people waging protest against corrupt government officials at the local and provincial level. The protest against administrative corruption and government’s inefficiency is a positive sign, marking people’s activism and their participation in holding the government accountable. It will also bring Afghanistan closer to a more representative democracy by trying to make the provincial and district governorship an elected position.