Khost PC members accuse governor of corruption

KHOST CITY (Pajhwok): Some provincial council (PC) members on Tuesday accused the governor of southeastern Khost province of incompetency and administrative corruption, but others rejected their allegations.

Some PC members joined by two lawmakers Humayun and Kamal Nasir Osoli addressed a press conference in Khost City, the provincial capital, calling for the provincial leadership to be replaced.

Osoli, a lower house member from Khost, alleged corruption had reached the peak in many provincial departments, including judiciary, due to interferences by some senior government officials.

The lawmaker accused Governor Abdul Jabbar Naeemi of blocking some projects the central government had approved as a result of lawmakers’ efforts.

“It was due to our efforts, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID project and then we obtained $2 million for the project from the Karzai government, but the land allotted to the project is yet to be vacated because the governor wants to construct a multi-storey building on the land.”

One of the eight members, Qamar Ali Lakanwal, told Pajhwok Afghan News President Ashraf Ghani should fire graft-tainted officials in Khost.

He set the president Saturday as a deadline to remove corrupt officials and warned of launching a protest movement with people’s support if the president did not do so.

But the governor’s spokesman, Mubariz Zadran, rejected the allegations against the governor and other provincial officials as baseless.

He told Pajhwok Afghan News: “The governor presided over maiden meeting of the provincial council about three weeks ago, when the public reps praised good governance, rule of law, implementation of development and reconstruction projects and other welfare efforts in Khost as unparalleled,” he recalled.

Zadran wondered how the PC members could change their stance so quickly, negating on their previous views about all the achievements.

Similarly, the provincial council head, Amirullah Zrah Swand and three others members of the council, Qimat Khan Mangal, Wagma Arzo and Zuhra Jalal, criticised their other colleagues for not making efforts to prevent administrative corruption.

Zrah Swand said he would not support the other members in their allegations against the governor because he deemed their action as inappropriate.

While Mangal said some lawmakers and PC members wanted to create anarchy in the province for their own interests.

hs/ma

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