December 09 is observed as Anti-Corruption Day internationally. The purpose of the day is to highlight the negative impacts of corruption on human society and try to convince the government and relevant authorities throughout the world to take necessary measures to curb this evil. Corruption is really an evil and it has the capacity to disturb justice and social order within a state.
Like many other countries the day was also observed in Afghanistan on Monday. In a gathering on the day a number of presidential candidates discussed the evil of corruption in Afghanistan. It should be mentioned here that Afghanistan has been greatly victimized by the evil of corruption and one of the reasons that Afghanistan has not been able to benefit to the maximum extend from the international aid that has poured in the country has been the persistent corruption. Currently Transparency International ranked Afghanistan as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.
The gathering on Monday was organized by Parliament’s Anti-Corruption Caucus (PACC) and the Afghan Coalition Against Corruption (AFCAC) and the organization together released a resolution that stress upon the importance of prosecuting corrupt individuals, approving better laws against corruption and more stringent enforcement of them. The presidential candidates, as well, vehemently blamed Afghanistan’s law enforcement agency for being responsible for increasing corruption because of it ineffective policy. They also blamed that mostly high-ranking government officials are not kept accountable for the corruption they commit which has further deteriorated the situation.
However, it is important to observe that such emphasis alone have not been able to solve the gigantic issue of corruption and it can never do.
It has to be understood that corruption in Afghanistan has penetrated very deep. Both on institutional and individual levels, there are numerous instances of corruption. And the most unfortunate fact is that it is no more considered as something negative and there are many people who emphasis that it is now a part of routine and common practice.
It is also unfortunate to note that the justice system that could have played a major role in nipping this evil in the bud did not offer as much as necessary and the situation has now gotten out of control. It can be easily observed that there are certain cases in which the law and order system itself becomes the victim of corruption and that is what has happened with Afghan society. In such cases the worst manifestation of corruption can be observed. The law then becomes the will of the rich and the powerful, and the poor suffer its consequences. The example can be easily found in the growing disparity between the rich and power in our country.
With such a scenario in hand, it is not possible to fight corruption with theoretical promises alone. There have to be a comprehensive strategy that must deal with the situation and the relevant authorities must strive to be determined and honest in their endeavor to fight with this giant. At the same time, it is also necessary to make people an important part of the fight against corruption. If the people as a whole start a movement against it, then there is really a hope.
One of the major problems in tackling with corruption in our country is that the controlling mechanism itself is involved in it. The government that should be on the forefront to curb this menace, itself has been a major contributor in this regard. There have been many major occasions of corruption when current administration has been blamed for being directly involved in the matter. From the issue of election to the Kabul Bank episode, the government has not been able to extract itself out clean. On most of the occasions the government has blamed the Western supporters to be generating corruption in the country.
Western allies, on the other hand, have kept on insisting that Afghan authorities must carry out serious measures to curb the overgrowing corruption; however, the outcome is yet to be produced in this regard. The Western allies have spent billions of dollars in supporting the Afghan government; they have every right to make sure that the money which is intended to support the Afghan people must be used through a transparent manner. However, they have not been very much careful in this regard. And already much of the money has been misused by corruption.