My day began with two video reports. Malyar Sadeq Azad a young Afghan journalist with 1TV launched an investigation into what I call The Adviser Industry in Afghanistan.
According to the first video report President Karzai has 110 advisers, who come from three major political parties in Afghanistan: Hezb-i-Islami (Pashtun) Jamiat-e-Islami (Tajik) and Hezb-e-Wahdat (Hazara.) The annual cost of maintaining these advisers is 4 million two hundred thousand USD (4,200,000.00) while only 10 of them work closely with the President. The rest of 100 advisers hardly get the chance to see the President even for an entire year. Yet all of them receive between 1000USD to 5000USD monthly salary and the monthly rent of their offices is between 6000USD to 12000USD.
According to the second video report, Afghanistan has more than 5000 international advisers. The cost of maintaining international advisers is $8 billion. This is while most of them have severe inadequate understanding of Afghanistan, even in the fields for which they are apparently offering advice.
Both reports expose corruption in Afghanistan by Afghans and by the international community. They are balanced, factual and revealing.
The findings of these reports are painful. But there is a good news in this bad news: I am thrilled to see the sparks of investigative journalism in Afghanistan, of which I spoke in my earlier paper, though with not much optimism. I am happy to have been proven wrong and to see that the courage and will of Afghan journalists is way ahead of the political will of the Afghan government.
This is a tribute to youth, and to Afghan journalists who are exercising real leadership, at a time most needed.