Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Monday, July 8th, 2024

Put a Check on Unchecked Corruption

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Put a Check on       Unchecked Corruption

A great disparity of deeds exists among Supreme Being and nonliving things–the former enjoys great deal of independence, capable of executing every undertaking at will while the later handicapped and handy to discharge the assigned duty, only. It principally is one of the reason human being entitled a supreme creature abounding with discretionary power of carrying out noble deeds that could bejewel the world with every element of justice, equality, fidelity, reliability and tranquility.

Hence, man is begotten to practice and promote common good. Every deed we undertake on account of greater interest is deemed a divine service that earns us virtue and fortifies our faith. If one tends to cut down or exploits the amount of time, authority and resources at his dispense for some heinous purposes is deemed an evil practice and unforgiveable deed. This is an act of corruption and equally condemnable deed.

This evil practice give birth to thousands of harms, crucifies justice, equality, peace and order turning the society a breeding ground of viciousness and initialize the cycle of evil. To justify this very position I would draw your attention to this prominent tale from moral story. Once there lived a king who was so cruel and unjust –his subjects yearned for his death or dethronement. However, one day he surprised them all by announcing that he had decided to turn over a new leaf. "No more cruelty, no more injustice," he promised, and he was as good as his word. He became known as the 'Gentle Monarch'. Months after his conversion one of his ministers mustered up courage to ask him what had brought about his change of heart. The king answered, "As I was moving through my forests I caught sight of a fox being chased by a hound. The fox escaped into his hole but not before the hound had bitten its leg and had lamed it for life.

Later I rode into a village and saw the same hound there. It was barking at a man. Even as I watched, the man picked up a huge stone and flung it at the dog, breaking its leg. The man had not gone far when he was kicked by a horse. His knee was crushed and he fell to the ground, disabled for life. The horse began to run but it fell into a hole and broke its leg. Reflecting on all that had happened, I thought: 'Evil begets evil. If I continue in my evil ways, I will surely be overtaken by evil'. So I decided to change". The minister went away convinced that the time was ripe to overthrow the king and seize the throne. Immersed in thought, he did not see the stairs in front of him and fell, breaking his neck. The story depicts the real flaws of our society that have rendered us dysfunctional on an account of continued chain of evils in the form of illegitimate practices. It is undeniable truth that corruption is the biggest challenges for the national unity government –it should identify corrupt officials and bring them to justice –but prior to this they must disband themselves.

Subsequent to installation of the cabinet, an end to prevalent corruption rendered one of the foremost challenges to the serving government. The National Unity Government (NUG) must get started by ridding all public departments out of these calamities by launching close investigation to all cases of corruption brought forth to corresponding government institutions. An exemplary punishment should be extended to those who are convicted of misuse of their authority and public resources. We have to admit the core reason behind the failure to strengthen the backbone of Afghan economy is the severe security problems and deep-rooted corruption. It is anticipated the government will work out a plan to eradicate this great menace. As the problem of security and corruption persist, there seems to be a declining chance of betterment, and people will still have to wait for actual prosperity.

This is a grave state of worsening affair that presses hard the already wrecked economy of Afghanistan and utter negligence of government to tackle the peril of corruption. This is an undeniable fact either government is unwilling or hapless before powerful power abusers –despite the fact, president has been showing interest in lodging cases against power abusers. President Ghani had earlier avowed to re-open the inquiry into the theft from the bank, fulfilling a campaign promise to make fighting corruption a priority. Following that he has issued a presidential decree to prosecute the case but the concerned officials had done nothing till date –the case till date lies on pending. Following the ministry of defense fuel corruption President Ashraf Ghani suspended six top officials from the Ministry of Urban Development Affairs on charges of corruption, earlier. The investigation is handed over to the Attorney General's office.

The allegations leveled against the ministry officials include taking bribes in exchange for signatures on new housing projects, dolling out apartments to high ranking government officials and their relatives and constructing sub-standard apartments in order to pocket ministry funds. Despite these measures the corrupt officials enjoys misappropriating their positions, provided the system of general amnesty to potential power abuser are chained fast to the ground, given number of influential personalities involved in money embezzlement from public offices, heinous crime against citizens and power misuse were given amnesty without being subjected to strict measures entailing answerability. This attitude of government had discouraged new investments with remnants intended to downsizing and withdrawing a dire omen for progress of country needs immediate reversal by practical measures. This implies that the expanding role of government in development has placed some officials in a monopolistic position and has enhanced the opportunities for unlimited administrative misappropriation.

Asmatyari is permanent writer of Daily outlook Afghanistan. He can be reached at asmatyari@gmail.com

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