The Chief Executive of Afghanistan, Abdullah Abdullah, said people will not trust the police until corrupt officials have been removed from the Ministry of Interior – which has come under increasing fire from local and international officials for its widespread corruption.
Speaking at a session at the interior ministry on Thursday, Abdullah said close relations and trust between the public and the police was key to maintaining law and order in the country.
Attending the session were representatives of public councils from around the country who had come together to discuss the issue of bridging the divide between the public and the police.
“If a police uniform is sold, if a bullet is sold, a weapon is sold, if a police vehicle is sold or it is given to the enemy, these are the things which decrease the people’s trust in police,” he said.
Abdullah said anti-government armed militants in many instances benefited from the negligence of security forces in terms of carrying out their duties.
He also said women play a key role in the police and more need to be recruited.
The session provided an open discussion between citizens and police officials where delegates accused the Ministry of Interior of widespread corruption.
“I have a suggestion for the leaders of this ministry that they should pay more attention to our police,” said Mawlawi Sulaiman, a religious scholar.
“Police structures will be assessed in all provinces and then we will move towards reforms,” said Wais Ahmad Barmak, acting minister of interior.
This comes a day after Barmak said - at the start of the two-day conference - that the gap between the public and police has significantly increased in recent times but that efforts are underway to rebuild the public’s trust in the force.
Barmak pledged that in future the interior ministry will take serious action against officers guilty of corruption, negligence and misconduct.
According to him, the community police has so far established 320 councils in cooperation with the people across the country. But members of the councils have said they want government to officially recognize their presence and provide them with the necessary resources.