UN award for Farah governor flayed

FARAH CITY (Pajhwok): The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has conferred a good performance award on the Farah governor in acknowledgement of his services to the people.

But the provincial council and civil society activists condemned the UN move as unjust, accusing the governor of being inefficient and incompetent.

Governor Mohammad Omar Sherzad received the award from local UNAMA officials on Thursday at a ceremony attended by government officials and others.

On behalf of former UNAMA chief Jan Kubis, the mission head in Farah presented the award. She said: “This letter of appreciation is awarded to you in recognition of your good performance as acting governor.”

She praised the gubernatorial initiatives to promote peace, reconstruction, arrange peaceful elections in Farah and maintaining strong relations with UN agencies.

Sherzad expressed his gratitude to Kubis, saying the award in fact belonged to all people of Farah. “It’s the second letter of appreciation that the United Nations has given to an governor — the first one was given three years back the governor of Bamyan.”

But a number of public representatives and civil society members faulted the UN decision. Hamidullah Rahmani, a social worker, told Pajhwok Afghan News: “The Farah governor is an inefficient man, who has done nothing worth praising.”

He added: “Two weeks ago, residents of Bala Baluk district staged a protest against corruption by the highway security chief, but the governor been unable to deal with the problem.”

Rahmani said he saw no reason why the United Nations mission had honoured a governor who had been under fire for being corrupt and inert.

Farid Ahmad Bakhtawar, the provincial council head, slammed the UNAMA step as disappointing. “The governor is an incompetent person and all Farah people have demanded his removal.”

He suggested the provincial chief executive should have been handed “transfer orders” or a “corruption warning” instead of being honoured by the world body.

Jamila Amini, a member of the council, said: “The governor knew well that public representatives and civil society are against him. And that’s why we were not invited to the ceremony.” 

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