لراوبر ویب پاڼه لراوبر يو افغان – تازه خبرونه
Reported by: Asif Salim
I discovered a supper confidential report of Corruption incidence in the UNDP Country Office in Afghanistan. The report was mistakenly saved on my personal computer by an international consultant while she was on a mission to the UNDP Afghanistan. The report has mentioned the name of a local staff Mr. Masoud Amer was named guilty for embezzling huge amount of cash (about US$ 15,000) and abuse of power. The report has also referred to the inability and incompetence of UNDP International Staff particularly at the management level that support and protect corrupt personnel and promote them to higher positions.
In the Afghans perception, UN is believed to be the only and the most trustworthy organization that delivers its programmes and projects with the highest level of accountability and transparency and it is believed to be an organization that advocates for good governance and democracy. However, on many occasions, as this incident, the probity and integrity of UN organization and its staff come under question. It is of grave concern that certain elements with such a huge level of greed attempts to fill their pockets with illegitimate money; the money that is allocated for the betterment of the vulnerable Afghan population. Billions of US dollars were donated in the last 7-8 years by various donor countries and development partners to revive this war ravaged country and support the state building process; however, it has not been effectively and accountability spent. It goes to the pocket of limited number individuals as Masoud Amer and others who have support, authority and power to do so. Before going into greater details, I would like to seek your attention to the following report disclosed from a computer in the UNDP Country Office.
Confidential Report
Disclosure of Corruption Case in UNDP Afghanistan
Summary of Evidence-based Corruption Report from an Employee in UNDP Afghanistan
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Dear Kemal Dervish, The UNDP Administrator in New York
I recently visited UNDP Afghanistan and met a staff member who was quite vocal about corruption cases that took place in UNDP Country Office in Afghanistan during 2006 and 2007. With all the facts and evidences I observed, I felt responsible, as a tax payer of a donor country which has poured considerable amount of money to the rehabilitation and development of Afghanistan, to come forward and report this case to your Excellency for your strict action.
………Anonymous Reporter 2008
1. There is no doubt that UNDP in comparison to many international organizations has gained rewarding reputation in fostering and supporting the implementation of Democratic Governance, Accountability and Integrity in the state institutions as well as in its own routine operations including procurement, logistics and human resource management. However, there are plenty of evidences that in some instances the probity, transparency and accountability of UNDP in the management of projects and programme itself was questioned due to several reasons one of which could be lack of solid and sound performance management and inadequate check and balance mechanisms in place.
2. This has resulted in the recruitment, retention and even promotion of incompetent individuals in the systems which proved detrimental to the reputation, credibility, ethical and behavioral standards of an organization such as UNDP that is advocating for the rule of law, and the principle of democratic governance.
3. Experiences show that ‘conspiracy of silence’ that breeds petty and grand corruption, is often the result of inexistent rewarding and conviction mechanisms in an organization. It does not only benefit or harm an individual who is committing corruption but also perpetuate a culture of corruption in that entity where every employee will be demanding pay off to execute a task.
4. Despite the fact that UNDP offers competitive salaries in Afghanistan to its staff and provides several privileges such as pension, insurance, child benefit etc, the incidences of corruption has considerably increased not only in procurement but also in the programme section. Recently, an employee of UNDP who declined to disclose his name reported that a staff member by the name of Mr. Masood Amer (Programme Officer SEAL Project and Acting ACD) has stashed away more than $15,000USD (fifteen thousand US dollars) from the PA (Preparatory Assistance) project that was designed in support of Provincial Council Activities and for the start up of Sub-National Governance Programme (ASGP). The case of Corruption surfaced from the calculation of DSAs for the Members of the Provincial Councils while they were going to Philippines and Indonesia in 2007 to participate in an exposure visit. While double checking the financial records in the UNDP Finance Unite, it was witnessed that Mr. Masood Amer committed the following:
He breached UNDP Travel Rules by renting highly expensive hotel in Islamabad (Marriot Hotel) and “I suspect”, the employee who reported said to me that “he might have passed that night(s) with PC members in a rather cheaper hotel since there was no slip/receipt of Marriot Hotel in the payment attachments.
Mr. Masood withdrew the DSAs (more than $40,000US) for all PC members (about 34) who were nominated to the trip and only 24 showed up for the visit. It means the DSA of 10 people remained with Masood without paying it back to the Finance Unit.
There are also reports from Members of Provincial Council that Mr.Masood has not paid them the full DSA; he has paid only 50-60 % of the DSA to the members who joined the trip.
For further information and references contact Anonymous in UNDP Afghanistan through the earlier reports submitted by the whistle blower to the UNDP Hotline or reply back to this email.
The sign of embezzlement of about $15,000USD was well evident from an absolute change in the life style of Mr. Masood when he returned back from Philippine with a DELL Laptop (cost $1500) a mobile set (cost $500) and many more which he could not save from his own DSA.
5. According to the staff member who reported the case, there are many evidences that Masood, while working for UNDP- DDR Project, has stashed away thousands of US dollars with or without evidence which enabled him to buy an extremely expensive house (about $60,000US house in Macrorayan –Kabul) and expensive cars, which he, otherwise, could not purchase with his $1000- $1200 monthly salary while also supporting his family and children.
5. Similarly, Mr. Masood, while procuring many goods and services for the SEAL project, has also committed a lot of collusion and corrupt dealings with ex-UNDP staff Mr. Moqim Azizi (Procurement Associate); a key broker. Similarly, in order to hide similar cases, Mr.Masood has constantly tried to bring in his loyal colleagues from other projects e.g. DDR so that he is protected in a network of his own syndicates.
5. These issues of misappropriation, and corruption were already brought to the attention of some UNDP staff at the management level; nevertheless, no one has taken it serious. They have kept their eyes blind despite clear indication of irregularities observed in the SEAL project (e.g. highest number of waiver cases, as you can also see from the attached document just as single sample). Similarly, the person who reported this to me has also reported this case on the UNDP fraud hotline and the staff member has plenty of documents at hand. The audit also does not seem to have done a good job since they have failed to unveil these cases.
6. If you want to investigate the case, the staff member who reported this case to me can assist you in providing solid and genuine evidences and proofs. Alternatively, you could also inspect files of the following projects both in Democratization and Civil Society Empowerment (DCSE) Unit as well as in the Finance and Travel Units – UNDP Country Office- Afghanistan:
PA(Preparatory Assistance) Project for Provincial Councils ( track financial records from A to Z , the reporter was sure that you will find discrepancy in the budget expenditure and supporting documents)
SEAL Project document (track the budget of 2005 and 2006 all the procurement process and procedures including biddings, travel documents…. ..etc.
Inspect the Project Document of the Sub-National Governance (ASGP) project for the case of Indonesia Trip.
Double check documents of the DDR Project for which Masood was responsible (budget of 2003, 2004, 2005)
Considering all the above facts and evidences that are out there and unless necessary measures are taken against the offender, one can speculate that the image of UNDP Afghanistan will be disgracefully damaged and it will cause a grave concern among the government as well as the donor community who trust UNDP for its integrity and credibility. Given that the senior management in UNDP Afghanistan is silent and has taken no action against this, it your moral responsibility to take full account of this matter. The alleged person has established good relationship with the UNDP senior management and thus he feels fully protected.
In the worse case scenario, if this report was not taken seriously, the complainant was determined to report the case to the AGO of Afghanistan as well as the Afghan Parliament.
You can also reply to this email, in case you require further explanation
khussmann@gmail.com .
