Prevalent administrative corruption not only has divested the war-torn country of all opportunities for self-reliance but also has significantly contributed to the protraction of the conflict. Thanks to the phenomena, the state-building efforts in Afghanistan have faced with challenges and the distance between the public and government is widening day by day due to its inability to deliver services. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism has recently revealed in a report that some former and current senior Afghan officials and their families own luxury offshore property in Dubai. According to the revelations, Afghan officials have flown large sums of money they may have presumably earned through illegal means out of Afghanistan and purchased property in Dubai.
This is not the first time such reports of ownership of offshore property by Afghan government officials have surfaced; there have been such reports in the past, yet corruption has not been tackled and remains to be a dark sport on Afghanistan’s reputation. While the donor community continues to slam Afghan government for its failure to stamp out corruption, they also are part of the problem. The most shocking and mega corruption cases have been reported in contracts implemented by foreigners in Afghanistan as they have been found to be the main sources of massive corruption. Nonetheless, it does not mean that Afghan governments and their leaderships are not to be blamed for the graft. They are responsible for eradicating corruption since they know that Afghanistan will never get the chance to become economically self-reliant and self-sufficient if the phenomenon is not tackled.
Moreover, the resources, which should have otherwise been spent to improve the living conditions of Afghan people, have been embezzled, and flown out of the country, thereby leaving no positive impact on Afghan economy. The corrupt Afghan officials, who have smuggled funds out of the country, have betrayed the country and people in two ways. One the one hand, they have siphoned off public funds and on the other hand, they have deprived the country of the opportunities for self-reliance through capital flight. After war, corruption is the second major challenge for Afghanistan, and if continues, the country will not accomplish self-reliance and self-sufficiency, no matter how much foreign assistance it can attract. The first step for Afghanistan to stand on its own feet economically is to uproot corruption.
