Members of Wolesi Jirga, the Lower House of Afghan Parliament, on Saturday accused National Procurement Authority (NPA) of corruption, saying head of the entity should be referred to Attorney General’s Office for investigation.
Ehlam Omar Hotaki, NPA chairman, made the PMs angry by constantly refusing to show up in Wolesi Jirga to answer questions regarding government contracts. Hotaki was summoned to the lower house on Saturday, but he excused himself in a letter, promising to visit the house on Wednesday.
Talking at the Saturday’s plenary session, Wolesi Jirga speaker Mir Rahman Rahmani said the MPs were not under the command of NPA, and urged his colleagues to decide Hotak’s fate.
“He was summoned last week too, but he did not show up requesting us to specify the projects,” Rahmani said.
Mir Haider Afzali, Defense Commission’s head of the chamber, said that NPA refused to approve drugs supply contract for Shaheed Sardar Mohmmad Dawoud Khan Hospital despite the fact that the hospital suffers from severe lack of medicines.
He also accused NPA of awarding a contract for rice supply to Ministry of Defense to a firm violating the contract by stuffing foreign rice in sacks of domestic rice as in light of the contract Afghanistan-grown grain should be purchased.
Afzali also said that contracts of liquid gas and fuel had also been given to company lacking capacity.
“The company was given the contract to provide fuel to Kabul Municipality last year, but it failed to implement the contract,” he claimed.
The MP said that officials in the ministry of defense complained to MPs that the ministry has not purchased fuel for the winter season because NPA did not approve the contract.
At the end of the session, Wolesi Jirga speaker said the issue of government officials refusing to show up in the Jirga would be discussed with President Ashraf Ghani.
He also said MPs gave another chance to Hotaki to visit the house and answer the question of representatives.
