KABUL (Pajhwok): Brazen anomalies and corruption were committed in the announcement of 15 Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG) posts, findings of Pajhwok Afghan News reveal.
But the IDLG spokesman vehemently denied irregularities in the announcement of vacancies. He also rejected corruption allegations, asserting complete transparency in the recruitment process.
IDLG officials claimed they paid for the announcement of each position on the on www.jobs.af, or other webpages of the kind. On the other hand, the website operators said all government posts were announced for free under an agreement with state institutions.
Corruption in recruitment
Pajhwok Afghan News launched its investigations after it got access to significant information regarding massive irregularities in the announcement of IDLG-related employment opportunities.
Of 45 jobs announced, 15 posts were in IDLG. Pajhwok received necessary information about the announcement dates and code numbers for the vacant positions.
The posts, announced on different dates, had the following code numbers: 39142, 39332, 39333, 39528, 39532, 39550, 39554, 39607, 39608, 39608, 39609, 39610, 39611, 39817 and 39819.
For example, the code number for one IDLG post was 39141 and its announcement date July 14, 2015. Similarly, the code for another post was 39143 and its announcement date the same. But yet another IDLG vacancy, with code number 39142, was announced on July 1, 2015.
Keeping in view the serial number of codes, there should be no overlaps in the posts unveiled on July 1 and 14. Pajhwok has taken a snapshot of the posts announced by the IDLG. Click on the content for details.
The irregularities and graft in the IDLG have occurred after the takeover of its new leader in July. Most of the posts announced on the website had discrepancies in terms of opening and closing dates — an indicator of possible corruption.
An insider disclosed: “In order to pave the way for nepotism and bribery, the vacancies are announced for a few days. To minimise the number of candidates and increase the chances of their blue-eyed boys being appointed, dates are brazenly manipulated.”
Credible sources have shared with Pajhwok concrete evidence of manipulation of codes for posts in different organisations, indicating deviation from merit. For instance, the IDLG post with code number 39142, announced on July 1, was filled within five days.
Apparently, the source said, everything looked fine in terms of announcement and closing dates, but in reality the announcement procedure was marred by subtle maneuvering.
Some of the posts were filled in four days and others in a single one day, pointing to fraud in all 15 appointments. Vacancy number 39611 carries a wrong date (August 8), because the post was announced on August 15 for only one day.
Meanwhile, the website operators confirmed violations in filling of all 15 IDLG positions. One of them, wishing anonymity, said: “We are one hundred percent sure there was deception in the announcement of these jobs.”
The IDLG human resource officer vacancy, with code number 39607, was ostensibly announced on August 8. But, in fact, the job was advertised on August 15, the closing date, leaving deserving applicants with little chance of success.
He alleged the deception had been done in a highly skillful way by some IDLG officers, who saw to it date for their favourites were given ample time to make their way to the organisation, “IDLG advertised the jobs when only days ahead of the closing dates.”
“This whole fraudulent exercise was conducted by a clever person in IDLG. We did not know before the trick that some people announce their jobs in such an underhand way,” the website official commented.
While absolving his webpage of blame for this wrongdoing, he thanked Pajhwok for informing them about the glaring flaws. A technical team was working on dealing with the problem to prevent a recurrence of the problem, he continued.
Click here for details about fraud in IDLG job announcements.
On the other hand, IDLG spokesperson Muneera Yousufzada repudiated any fraud in recruitment to the organisation. The process was completely transparent, from announcement to appointments, she maintained.
“Hatching a conspiracies and filing cases is very simple in Afghanistan. Access to information is not difficult either for media outlets. Finding a document may not be one hundred percent valid,” she said, adding IDLG was trying its best under the new leader to combat corruption.
Yousufzada blamed some elements, who had been fired due to funding constraints or on corruption charges, for trying to create problems in the recruitment process. Incumbent IDLG chief Ghulam Jilani was appointed on May 9, 2015.
Contradictory statements
The webpage officials say advertising a job costs $15 for the first time. After that, all announcements on the website from the same source was free of cost, based on an agreement with the government.
The website was paid $150 for announcing 10 IDLG jobs in 2012. The directorate has since advertised 300 jobs without paying the cost. But IDLG spokesperson claimed paying for all job announcements.
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