RASC News Agency: Reports from Herat Province in western Afghanistan indicate that some bureaucratic positions under the Taliban’s administration in this province are being bought and sold by their leadership for Taliban commanders. An informed source in Herat Province, speaking on condition of anonymity to the RASC News Agency on Monday, Feb 26, stated that some Taliban commanders in Kandahar are visiting their leader, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, to exchange money for bureaucratic positions.
The source adds that many Taliban officials currently purchase bureaucratic positions they hold for substantial amounts of money and strive to amass hefty sums in addition to the payments made. The source indicates that the positions acquired by officials include customs, transportation, petroleum, passport management, and other sectors. According to the source, the prices of bureaucratic positions under the Taliban range from 300,000 to 10 million Kabuli Rupees. The source believes that administrative corruption related to the purchase and sale of bureaucratic positions under the Taliban’s administration is even more widespread than under the Republic government.
Meanwhile, Osman Nejrabi, a civil activist in Herat Province, stated that both administrative and moral corruption exist among officials in all departments, and the Taliban are no exception. Nejrabi states that the buying and selling of bureaucratic positions under the Taliban’s administration is one of the practices through which members of this group engage in numerous transactions. According to him, the Taliban seek to fill their pockets to spend their days of despair with the money they earn.
However, Jabar Rahimi, a knowledgeable person in western Afghanistan, told the RASC News Agency that the most extensive corruption is carried out by the Taliban’s elites, and lower-ranked individuals in the group emulate their leaders and engage in corruption. He added that the Taliban have not spent one percent of the funds sent to help the people by neighboring countries and European countries for the advancement and reconstruction of Afghanistan. Occasionally, some construction works are seen undertaken by the Taliban, but they are mostly for show. The Taliban authorities have not commented on this matter.
It is worth mentioning that bureaucratic positions in the government under the Republic system were also traded for some special individuals. Now, under the Taliban’s rule, this scenario has been defined for some high-ranking and low-ranking individuals within this group as well.
