Corruption on the rise in Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s government recently launched a campaign in an attempt to address the country’s latest political plague, according to BBC News.

Although the government has jailed and suspended numerous officials for extortion, bribery has also trickled down to the street. Police officials, passport workers, and even traffic officers demand daily bribes for their services.

According to the article, a senior official at the Afghanistan interior ministry admits that widespread corruption is a problem, but blames other factors such as the war and a lack of support from the international community.

He claims, “Corruption will only vanish once we deny people the reasons to be corrupt. We also need to fire corrupt officials at the highest level. If we don’t, then people will lose more trust in the Afghan government.”

Yet, many Afghans believe that better wages would improve their standard of living and therefore combat the impetus for corruption.

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