Afghan anti-graft office tries to build up muscle
Kabul: Afghanistan's fledgling anti-corruption office needs more staff, money and power, its deputy chief says, urging international backing to help root
out graft in one of the world's most corrupt nations.
"There are multiple problems. Sometimes you wonder where you can start from. It is that complicated," Ershad Ahmadi said in an interview with a news agency at his office in a small, inconspicuous building in Kabul.
Corruption is endemic at every level of Afghan society, from traffic policemen who demand cash at ubiquitous road blocks, to officials and their relatives implicated in large-scale drug trafficking.
After a fraud-tainted election that saw organisers
declare President Hamid Karzai the winner when his challenger abandoned a run-off, international and domestic pressure has mounted for a serious effort to combat graft.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has reportedly described Karzai himself as corrupt, and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday said the Afghan president must "root out" graft.
Karzai has pledged "by any means possible" to eradicate corruption's stain. Yet the High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption does not yet have the power and legal authority to carry out investigations or enforce its recommendations.
Bureau Report