Afghanistan Times
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AT Monitoring Desk-KABUL: As insecurity is encircling different parts of the country due to failure of the government to appoint the defense minister, the pressure has increased on the high-ranking provincial officials to remain in their respective provinces especially the governors as President Ashraf Ghani has imposed ban on their stay in Kabul city.
The officials would not be allowed to stay in the capital city unless had a genuine reason or authorization. Directing the provincial governors through a video conference, the president said the other day that the second 100-day plan of the government is focusing on provinces, and the provincial officials would not be allowed to stay “even for a day” in Kabul as they should be in their respective provinces to fulfill their responsibilities.
Encouraging the provincial administrations, he said the governors played significant role in improving security, good governance and addressing public grievances. He also expressed satisfaction over coordination of the governors. The president said the governors established strong contacts with general public.
He said that at a time only five governors should visit the capital city, periodically, to discuss their problems with the country’s National Security Council and concerned ministries.
Speaking about the economic challenges and the government plans, he said that no country can achieve economic independence without imposing taxes. The president said that the international community’s assistance would be conditional. The international partners will observe that how the Afghan government collects taxes and spend them in provinces as well as Kabul city.
Regarding usurpation of the lands, he said the issue has been discussed in the land authority council and most of the state-owned lands have been grabbed in Nangarhar, Kabul and Balkh provinces.
According to some circles in the central government the decision is aimed to bring administrative reforms and address grievances of the public. However, the analysts are of the view that most of the governors were not staying in the provinces which resulted into wider security vacuum. The governors have limited interaction with the masses and refined confined to their highly fortified offices. This has resulted into wider trust deficit between the government and public and provided good opportunity to the miscreants to garner support or launch large-scale attacks.
