With the efforts to curtail and eliminate corruption in Afghanistan facing enormous challenges, the Afghan government has recommit to lead the campaign against corruption and ensuring rule of law. President Ashraf Ghani told a one-day anti-corruption conference in Kabul on Friday May 06, 2016 that the Afghan government was determined in fighting corruption and is going to enhance efforts to eliminate the phenomenon in the country. In the conference ‘The Way Ahead for Anti-Corruption in Afghanistan’, that was attended by a delegation of European donors, Ghani hinted he has authorized a special police unit to investigate and scrutinize high-ranking government officials including ministers, governors and other senior government officials. Ghani also said the government was cautiously considering a plan to establish a specialized anti-corruption justice center to boost the anti-corruption campaign.
President Ghani’s remarks over his commitment to fight corruption come at a time when the international supporters of Afghanistan have been calling on the Afghan government to do more and make the anti-corruption efforts a priority. In its latest report, the transparency advocacy group Transparency International once again ranked Afghanistan among the most corruption nations in the world. Many believe that the national unity government has failed in fulfilling its pledges to effectively fight corruption and the ensure rule of law in the country. Fighting corruption and promotion of rule of law were among the key objectives of President Ghani when he came to power two years ago. However, the efforts have led to nowhere as corruption remains pervasive and the government has been unable to curb the trend. Afghanistan again becoming one of the three most corrupt nations in the world is clearly indicating the failure of the efforts to eliminate corruption.
Fighting corruption in a top-down manner starting from the highest levels of the government was President Ghani’s first and inevitable choice in starting to lead a forceful anti-corruption campaign. And this tends to be the most difficult part of government’s leadership of the anti-corruption campaign. The anti-corruption policy of the national unity government is characterized by impulsive and arbitrary approach rather than focusing on establishing a broader and more comprehensive national strategy for promoting the fight against corruption. The strategy has already shown as completely ineffective and a total failure as the government’s efforts has failed to produce any tangible results in reducing corruption in the country.
Partly aimed on publicity, President Ghani’s efforts for promoting anti-corruption fight, governance and rule of law were started with surprise visits to army and police headquarters, government offices and other public institutions. The national unity government’s quick move to deal with the corruption case of Kabul Bank as the country’s most notorious financial scandal brought praise for the new government and came as a sign of the unity government’s resolve for fighting corruption. Ghani followed with starting scrutinizing major procurement and financial agencies of the government which culminated by suspending some high-ranking officials from their posts and referring their case to judicial authorities. There were broach expectations that the government would remain steadfast in purging corrupt officials and further extending the campaign.
However, the government’s anti-corruption approach was seriously challenged by the very high-ranking officials and the country’s political elite. Due to divisions within the government and lack of broader political support to the government’s anti-corruption campaign, the government failed to create a momentum in the anti-corruption efforts and establish a nation-wide strategy for fighting corruption. The refusal to the political community to accompany and support government policies in fighting corruption led the efforts to gradually weaken as the government was left unable to promote the campaign. The increasing political and economic challenges further debilitated the efforts and virtually derailed one of the highly publicized plans of the national unity government.
In the anti-corruption conference, Ghani has said that corruption was a major hurdle ahead of the country’s development, asserting that his government would not spare any efforts to combat it. Corruption and development have direct impacts on each other. The pervasive corruption in Afghanistan remains a profound challenge for the development efforts in the country while development successes will in turn help curbing corruption. The ongoing war in the country and the economic woes of Afghanistan potentially undermines any efforts to contain corruption. The Afghan government is going to continue tackling with the Taliban insurgency for the coming years and maybe for decades compounding the challenges for the government to fight corruption and promote rule of law.
The national unity government has recognized some key government offices such as procurement, recruitment, financial and policy making offices as highly prone to corruption, and therefore, the main priority of the government. However, what the national unity government is going wrong is the way it is handling the anti-corruption efforts. The government needs to institutionalize the anti-corruption campaign by establishing a long-term oriented and comprehensive plan with focus on turning the efforts into a grassroots move within the government and public agencies led and directed by the central government. In the meantime, the government needs to remain focused on a sustainable anti-corruption campaign while remaining engaged with dealing the insurgency and other challenges existing in the country.

Afghanistan is not going to overcome the phenomenon of corruption unless the government changes course in the fight against corruption. The ongoing efforts led by the government would lead to nowhere. It is time for the government to improve coordination with the international community and use world’s successful experiences. The efforts need consensus and political support at home. The government needs to do more to promote consensus on supporting government anti-corruption initiatives. The national unity government has taken concrete measures in enhancing transparency in key government and public agencies. However, it has fallen short of institutionalizing the anti-corruption campaign. The anti-corruption campaign is a race against time in Afghanistan. The pervasive corruption is threatening survival of the country. The government needs to do more to contain the threat.