Afghans Demand Freedom of Information

Lack of transparency at local government level has alienated the public and increased corruption, according to speakers at a series of IWPR debates in Afghanistan.

Participants in events held in Badghis, Baghlan, Balkh and Kabul complained that municipal officials often refused to release data about their programmes and budgets. Combined with routine denial of media access, this paved the way for widespread corruption by local government.

Mohammed Sediq Atif, speaking on behalf of civil society activists in Badghis in the northeast of Afghanistan, said that despite the requirements laid down in the constitution, government employees consistently declined to share information with the public.

Abdul Sami Qaderi, a freelance journalist in Badghis, said that some local officials went to great lengths to avoid media scrutiny.

“Government employees hiding information is one of the challenges journalists face in Badghis,” he continued.

Mohammad Arif Baher, representing youth activists from Badghis province’s Moqor district, said that withholding information about government plans and programmes caused a huge rift between the state and its citizens.

Kabul is making legislative efforts to improve the situation. An access to information law approved by President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani in December promises unprecedented transparency in state institutions.

Hafizullah Khaleqyar, a legal expert, told the debate in Baghlan province that the law had been delayed too long. Had it been approved soon after the fall of the Taleban regime in 2001, Afghan society would have been transformed long ago, he argued.

“Those who [flout] the law deserve prosecution and punishment,” Khaleqyar added.

In the northern Balkh province, Maulavi Abdul Khalil, a cleric and preacher, said that some local government employees concealed information from the public so as to protect their own interests – they did not want their corrupt practices to become known.

In Kabul, legal expert Mohammad Omar Abed told the debate that transparent governance was important to creating a stable society. Religious scholar Maulavi Umran told the audience at the same debate that the angel Gabriel was the first reporter in that he conveyed God's messages to the prophets without embellishment.

This report is based on an ongoing series of debates conducted as part of IWPR’s Afghan Youth and Elections programme.