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Corruption is Afghanistan's Greatest Problem

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime | March 2010

According to nearly 60% of Afghans, corruption is their country's greatest problem, and not the precarious security situation. Hours spent waiting in lines, weeklong delays in obtaining necessary licenses from local bureaucrats have led to every second Afghani paying a bribe at least once a year. But the Afghans do not only feel their own government is corrupt: 54% think that international NGOs and relief agencies are as well. If the reconstruction of the country is ever to succeed and the Afghans are ever to govern their country without outside assistance, then corruption needs to be dealt with relentlessly and swiftly.

Within the past 12 months alone, Afghanis paid a staggering $2.5 billion in bribes. That amounts to 23% of the country's GDP. Not only doctors and teachers demand extra money for providing services, but most importantly civil servants extract horrendous fees in order to speed up lengthy bureaucratic procedures. An average bribe costs $160 in a country where annual income stands at $425. Paradoxically, the reason for the astounding growth of corruption has been the massive inflow of monies generated by the drug trade and infused into the country by aid agencies. By flooding the country with dollars, they dislocated the existing patron-client relationship in traditional Afghan society and allowed for the rise of a new class of powerbrokers who provide services for a fee. The greediest public servants not surprisingly are judges and police officers. Their activities have led to the weakening of the administration of traditional justice via the village shura. Those seeking to redress their grievances hence turn to more violence-prone actors to obtain some form of justice: the Taliban. The news media in Afghanistan has carefully avoided the topic of corruption in the past. Therefore, one of the few controlling mechanisms that might have kept a rein on politicians seeking exorbitant bribes simply chooses to look the other way. Forty percent of Afghans who came into contact with government representatives report having been asked to pay bribes to have their legitimate concerns addressed. This does not strengthen the population's already weak trust in the Afghan state.

In order to fight corruption at the state level, Kabul urgently needs to set up an independent anti-corruption agency. It should work within the framework of the High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption, which enjoys a great deal of respect among the populace. The new agency should have an independent budget. Politicians should make their incomes subject to public scrutiny. Upon appointment, public servants should be required to make a pledge to reject corruption. Most importantly, in order to preclude corruption from the outset, the state bureaucracy must be made to work more efficiently. The news media should no longer avoid controversial topics such as corruption. Income from bribes needs to be tracked down and confiscated via mechanisms such as the World Bank/UNODC Stolen Assets Initiative. Unless corruption is fought on all fronts, the Afghan state will never become functional. Only after the endemic corruption has been eliminated, will Afghans be able to provide for their own security and international troops will be able to withdraw.

 This summary was prepared by the Atlantic Community Editorial Team from "Corruption in Afghanistan: Bribery as Reported by the Victims" published here by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.