Protestors want Kapisa governor, police boss to go

MAHMOOD RAQI (PAN): Thousands of people on Tuesday emerged on roads in central Kapisa province, demanding the removal of the governor and the police chief for what they called their “incompetence” to resolve their problems.

The protest rally in Mahmood Raqi, the provincial capital, involved residents of nearby towns. Around 2,000 people took part in the rally that emerged from the Ali Baba area around 10:30am and culminated in front of the governor’s office hours later.                                                                                                                

“Governor Mehrabubdin Sapi is incompetent. Due to his inability, developments projects across the province have come to a halt,” said Mohammad Iqbal Sapi, a lawmaker who participated in the protest.

He cited a halt to construction work on the Kabul-Sarobi Road as a proof of the governor’s incompetence.

“The protest is aimed at seeking immediate dismissal of the governor and the police chief,” remarked the provincial council deputy secretary, Ghulam Mohammad Zamaray, who accused Sapi of awarding project contracts to his relatives.

“We have very few development projects completed over one and a half year. Projects in progress are given to relatives of the governor, therefore, their pace has been slow,” he said.

The public representative panned the governor for slamming the doors of his office on common people since he took charge more than two years ago. “He has always been on excursions and has shut his doors on the people.”

Zamaray described the protest as a loud and clear message to the governor that his days were numbered and his popularity with the masses had plummeted.

The protestors also accused the police chief of failing to maintain security. “As a public representative, I am not happy with the security situation even in urban parts of Kapisa,” Zamaray remarked.

But the governor claimed the protest had been organised by Mohammad Iqbal Sapi, a former jihadi commander who had political differences with him. He insisted that his administration has executed a number of projects within its available resources.

Police chief Brig. Gen. Abdul Hamid spurned the allegations against him as “personal views” of the protestors, who he said did not represent the entire province.

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