AFGHANISTAN: NGOs under pressure in government anti-corruption drive
KABUL, 12 November 2010 (IRIN): The recent ban on around 150 NGOs – almost all of them local NGOs – for flouting (ikke at leve op til) reporting procedures is believed to be an Afghan government attempt to demonstrate it is taking action against corruption, aid workers say.
Laurent Sailard, director of ACBAR, an umbrella body for over 100 local and international NGOs, said NGOs must not be used as scapegoats (syndebukke): – NGOs have only spent about 10 percent of the foreign assistance to Afghanistan, he stressed.
– Through prompt reporting and oversight, we are trying to ensure corruption is tackled within the NGO community, said Sediq Amarkhil, a spokesman of the Ministry of Economy which registers and monitors NGOs.
He added that the cases of 30 foreign NGOs were under review for possible corruption, noting: – One NGO has spent 60 percent of its funds on staff salaries and administrative costs.
The government of President Hamid Karzai has been ranked the third most corrupt state in the world by Transparency International, and Karzai is under strong international pressure from Western donors to tackle corruption.
– We are concerned with continuing corruption at all levels of government. We know that without addressing this very serious issue long-term success is jeopardized, visiting US Senator John Mccain said in Kabul on 10 November.
The government has ordered all NGOs to stop renting luxury homes, buying fancy cars and paying high salaries to foreign staff.
“According to Article 43 of the NGO law, the unnecessary recruitment of foreigners must be avoided and instead attention and priority should be given to the employment of Afghan nationals,” said a Ministry of Economy statement in August.
– There are a lot of expensive cars around but they do not belong to NGOs, said ACBAR’s Sailard, adding that most NGOs did not use armoured vehicles or have big offices.
– We report every item in our possession such as computers, furniture, cars and even mobile phone handsets to the Economy Ministry, Hamidullah Saljuqi of the local NGO Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (CHA) told IRIN.
Government announcement
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