Chaghcharan Mayor sacked after protests

CHAGHCHARAN (Pajhwok): The mayor of western Ghor province has been sacked in the wake of protests against him following controversy over a building housing a state-owned TV channel in this capital city, the governor said on Tuesday.

Syed Anwar Rahmati told Pajhwok Afghan News the decision of sacking the mayor Mohammad Ishaq Hamraz had been taken by the Cabinet and he received the orders through the Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG) on the telephone.

He said security forces had been tasked with overseeing the municipality’s affairs and had been directed not to use the department’s funds until a new mayor was appointed.

Ghor RTA channel director Allauddin Mohammadi said they were given back the building’s ownership in light of evidence the Minister of Information and Culture presented before the Cabinet a day earlier.

Residents and civil society activists have been protesting against the mayor for ordering the construction of a marketplace on the land that belongs to the TV station.

Mohammadi added Hamraz wanted to forcibly take over the building that houses the TV channel. He said the building had already been allotted to the channel by the Cabinet.

But Hamraz denied the allegations against him and insisted the building was the municipality’s property.

Ghor Journalists’ Association head Abdul Qadir Ghafori welcomed the Cabinet’s decision, saying the TV channel was the only visual media entertaining residents.

mds/ma

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