Power-Sharing - Goftaman.com

CorruptionAfghanistan’s weak administration has few if any effective controls over corruption,which has undermined support for the government. Some systems have been instituted toprevent the most important types of corruption, notably a system requiring transparentpublic bidding for procurement. Increasingly, however, ministries are sidestepping thisprocedure and signing single-source contracts, many of which are then approved by thepresident in the interest of not delaying important projects. The compact obliges thegovernment to fight corruption without saying how.Recommendation:• The Afghan president should tell his cabinet that he will no longer sign singlesourcecontracts without exceptional circumstances and that all ministers foundproffering such contracts will be sacked. International donors should invest inbuilding the capacity of the Afghan government to draft proposals and processcontracts so that transparent procedures do not lead to intolerable delays.Self-governanceAt the local level, Afghans’ self-governance institutions have enabled people to surviveeven when the central government collapsed. This capacity for self-government couldbode well for the country’s future, except that these institutions function largely outsidethe constitutional system. The framers of the country’s 2004 constitution followedhistorical precedent in mandating a highly centralized administrative system. Althoughelected provincial councils have been formed, these have only advisory and watchdogroles. The budgets of the village-level Community Development Councils (CDCs)created by the National Solidarity Program (NSP) are limited to block grants for specificprojects approved by the ministry of rural rehabilitation and development.Even within a unitary system, however, the delivery of services andaccountability for public expenditure can be devolved to lower levels of government,creating potential for integrating local governance into the state. Unintentionally, thePRTs have for the first time in the history of Afghanistan introduced provincial28