Editorial: Official corruption a menace to future stability

Corruption is one of the most daunting problems that affects all government organisations. Although the government has made many efforts to break this vicious circle, the results have been less than satisfactory. The world community has contributed billions of dollars to Afghanistan's reconstruction through the United Nations, the bulk of which has gone to non-government organisations, NGOs. Many people accuse the NGOs of squandering the aid money, and the Afghan government will one day ask them to render an account. The work achieved over the past four years is paltry compared to the scale of the international donations, say the critics. Now Afghanistan has a parliament and it should work according to the will of the people. As the people's source of power over the government, it must do away with official corruption, otherwise all efforts will be wasted. President Hamed Karzai has promised to end official corruption because it is a menace, just like other great ills such as terrorism and narcotics. But unless government employees are paid a fair wage, it will be difficult to combat official corruption effectively.