Corruption has always been at the top of challenges and problems facing Afghanistan. If the issue of corruption comes under close scrutiny, it will prove to be even the major cause of the protraction of the war. Corruption has turned the war into a lucrative source of revenue and divested Afghans not only of prosperity but also peace. Although Afghan governments have made repeated pledges over the last two decades to eradicate the phenomenon and save Afghanistan from the huge embarrassment of being one of the world’s most corrupt countries, not only has the challenge not been tackled but it has also escalated, causing heavy damage to the regime. Leaders of the National Unity Government promised during their electioneering that they would divisively combat corruption, but they have so far failed to translate their words into actions like in all other areas.
A new United Nations report on anti-corruption finds out that corruption continues to be a major challenge for Afghanistan’s future. It also shows that 45 percent of Afghans still tend to give preference to informal justice mechanisms such as shuras and jirgas for dispute resolution over state legal and judicial institutions due to lack of trust. The report also indicates that the decisions of the Anti-Corruption Justice Center (ACJC) tasked with addressing high-profile corruption cases are also not being implemented. The challenges to the government’s anti-corruption efforts are as serious as ACJC has handed down 20 percent of its verdicts in absence of the convicted officials. It means that 20 percent of high ranking officials accused of corruption have not shown up in court let alone to enforce the decisions on them. Right now, three of the new lawmakers have been sentenced to various jail terms, but are yet to be imprisoned.
Political will and decisiveness are prerequisites for the clampdown on corruption. If government leadership lacks the will and does not adopt the top-down approach to rule of law, Afghanistan will continue to pay a heavy price for this vicious phenomenon for several more years to come. Bringing a senior government official accused of corruption to justice is more effective in the battle against corruption than prosecuting scores of low-level civil servants. When people see that the high-ranking officials, and the wealthy and powerful cannot flee the claws of law, the ordinary employees also do not dare to commit corruption, a trend that will gradually takes Afghanistan towards transparency and prosperity.
