AFGHANISTAN: Running on drugs, corruption and aid
KABUL, 10 May 2010 (IRIN): It is well known that the Taliban, local criminals and international drug cartels profit enormously from the drug trade; that corruption is rife; and that huge amounts of aid money are pouring into Afghanistan.
Less clear is the effect of all this on government power and the rule of law on which humanitarian aid organizations depend to carry out their mandate.
The drugs trade and corruption generate more money than lawful economic activities in Afghanistan. Opium sales generated an estimated 2,8 billion US dollar in 2009, while in the same year Afghans paid 2,5 billion dollar in bribes to government officials, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The drug-cum-corruption economy of 5,3 billion dollar in 2009 is more than the 4,4 billion earmarked in 2010 for running the government and financing the deve-lopment budget.
The overwhelming victims of corruption and drug-induced insecurity are ordinary Afghans, according to the Ministry of Counter-Narcotics (MCN).
“It is almost impossible to obtain a public service in Afghanistan without greasing a palm: bribing the authorities is part of everyday life,” said a UNODC survey, which described corruption as “the biggest problem” in the eyes of Afghans.
“Bribery not only robs the poor and causes misallocation of resources, it destroys trust in government,” it said.
Jean-Luc Lemahieu, UNODC’s country representative, was skeptical of the notion of linking drug money with corruption “yet nobody can argue that drug money and corruption are one unholy alliance sharing the same sick bed,” he told IRIN.
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