A number of Parliament Members, military analysts and even the ambassador of the European Union to Afghanistan have criticized the Ministry of Defense (MoD) for allegedly issuing the rank of General in exchange for money.
But the MoD rejects these claims and has said that it issues the rank only to individuals who deserve it.
However no mention was made as to the number of Generals in the ministry.
MPs and military analysts have said that one of the reasons for poor management on the battlefields is that high ranking military officials do not have the necessary abilities to run the operations even though they have the rank.
In addition, the ambassador of the European Union to Afghanistan said getting the rank of general has become a usual business in Afghanistan.
In response to these claims, Muhammad Rad Manish spokesperson for MoD said: “We have not witnessed such events in which a person gets the rank of General by paying money. But anyone who gets the General, Officer or Sergeant ranks must fulfill the requirements. ”
But the EU ambassador to Kabul Franz-Michael Skjold Mellbin said earlier this week that in Afghanistan, military officials are ranked based on their relations not their competency.
“How do you become a general or colonel in the Afghan security forces, well that is not based on the fighting skill, that is based on the size of your wallets and that doesn’t change, you are going to have that problem, I also raised that conversation, something that I like to remind the people, that is how many generals does Afghanistan have,” he said.
Saleh Mohammad Saleh, Member of Parliament’s Internal Security Commission, said: “Definitely I can say that people who are close to the president, to the chief executive or to the minister of interior gets the General rank. There are military staff members who have served for 14 to 15 years in the army but have not received any rank and that have retired. If you look at the documents in the ministry of interior and defense, you can see some soldiers who are illiterate have received the General rank.”
Footage that recently appeared on social media shows that Khalil Rahman, the son of Abdul Rahman Rahman deputy of ministry of interior, has been promoted to the rank of colonel.
In addition to this, Noorullah Anwari, son of Sayed Hussain Anwari, former security advisor to the president, also got the rank of general. It is said that there are a number of individuals who have received high military ranks in this way.
Sediq Sediqi, spokesperson for the ministry of interior said: “If anyone has such documents that prove someone has received such ranks through their relations or by paying money, the ministry of interior is ready to respond them.”
European Ambassador to Afghanistan says that the number of Generals in Afghanistan is several times more than those in Britain, Italy, Germany or France.
“We are not just talking about bad leadership, it is worse than bad leadership, some high ranking (are) involved in plundering the Afghan resources through mining which is that of the Afghan people, taking out of their pockets in enchanted ways for personal gains. They are sending off weapons and ammunitions to the enemy,” said Franz-Michael Skjold Mellbin.http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/27061-mod-rejects-claims-of-selling-rank-of-general
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