Zakhilwal says customs posts were being sold during Ghani rule

Customs posts were being sold for whopping prices during President Ashraf Ghani’s rule, Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal, a former finance minister, said this week.

Speaking in an interview with Ariana News, Zakhilwal, who served as finance minister during Karzai’s rule, said that the customs posts were being sold from one lakh up to millions of dollars.

He said that the bribery was happening because people close to Ghani were monopolizing power.

“Customs employees were telling me that the posts were being sold for millions of dollars, five lakhs and one lakh,” Zakhilwal said.

The former finance minister on the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) not to monopolize power if it wants corruption to be eradicated.

He also said that if IEA wants to win people’s hearts, it should respect values that they respect.

On the issue of girls’ education, Zakhilwal called on IEA to reopen girls’ schools for students above the sixth grade, suggesting there is no valid reason for their closure.

“There is no Sharia-based, logistic or cultural justification for the closure of schools or for our sisters not to be allowed to work,” Zakhilwal said.

Although he said he was not supporting IEA, but he opposed fight against it. He said that the sides should use political means instead of fighting which has proved not to be a solution.