Saba dismisses graft allegations

HERAT CITY (PAN): The High Office of Oversight and Anti-corruption (HOOAC) head on Tuesday accused the governor of western Herat province of corruption, a claim rejected by Governor Daud Shah Saba as a plot hatched against him by graft-tainted officials.

“Governor Daud Shah Saba has illegally allowed imports of nearly 30,000 tonnes of plaster powder from Iran”, the HOOAC head, Azizullah Lodin, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Calling the imports as illegal, he claimed the anti-corruption office intends to refer the case to the Attorney General Office (AGO). He also accused the governor of beating an employee of his department without any reason. He quoted the victim as saying the governor beat him up for traveling to Iran and Pakistan for treatment.

However, Governor Daud Shah Saba said: “Some elements involved in corruption have waged a conspiracy against me”. He claimed the plot was launched against him soon after he ordered action against individuals involved in smuggling of plaster power from Iran into Afghanistan.

However, he said there was no legal problem in importing plaster power to the country, but the power had been smuggled to the country without paying taxes, sending its price declining.

Revenues generated from the imports of plaster powder reached $25,000 at the Islam Qala port after the ban on the material was lifted, according to Saba, who claimed per 25 kilograms bag of plaster power was currently priced at 160 afghanis ($3.23102) against its previous rate of 460 afghanis.

The port director Ihsanullah Kamawal said plaster power was being imported based on a decision of the Cabinet. “If someone calls the imports as illegal, it is a plot, because we have requested lifting the ban on its imports,” he explained.

The governor also recalled the former water supply department head had also accused him of corruption, but he himself was fired on the same charges six months ago. About beating the government employee, he said: “I have beaten no body”.

Finance ministry spokesman, Aziz Shams and mines ministry spokesman, Jawad Omar acknowledged imports of plaster and iodine salt had recently been allowed based on a Cabinet decision.

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