Corruption at Afghan customs offices almost zero: official

The level of corruption at Afghanistan’s customs department has been stamped out to almost zero, a senior finance ministry official said this week.

In an interview with Ariana News, Mairaj Mohammad Mairaj, head of Afghanistan Revenue Department, asked international anti-corruption institutions to closely study the process of revenue collection in Afghanistan.

“An Islamic system is now in place in Afghanistan. You can see there is transparency. We can confidently say that the level of corruption is nearing zero,” Mairaj said.

The official questioned the transparency of the $2 billion international humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, saying it has not resolved the issue of high level poverty in the country.

“If they give $500 million to IEA, you will not find any poor person anywhere in Afghanistan,” Mairaj said.

On the 10 percent tax on mobile phone top-ups, Mairaj said this money will go to the national budget, and not into private pockets.

On ushr and zakat, the official said that it is not mandatory for people to pay zakat to the government.

“If one is obliged to pay zakat, he may give it to his relatives, other poor people or the government,” Mairaj said.

He said that millions of dollars of cash that is regularly dispatched to Afghanistan is not intended for IEA, but is spent on UNAMA programs.