The commander of the Combined Security Transition Command (CSTC-A) Robert Kaiser on Sunday said that  corruption inflicts millions of dollars in financial loses to the Afghan government, and called on officials to take firm steps to stop the scourge.
 
Corruption also leads to the defection of soldiers from check posts, he said.
 
Kaiser had been speaking in Kabul on Sunday during the inauguration ceremony of the new Anti-Corruption Criminal Justice Center’s (ACJC) building funded by the UK government.
 
The center was established a few months ago to tackle major corruption cases of government officials.
 
“Corruption is the enemy of Afghanistan and it kills from the inside out, corruption is why police walk away from their checkpoints ” said Robert Kaiser.
 
In addition to this, the British ambassador to Kabul Dominic Jermey said that the Afghan government should do more to end the trend and to fight corruption effectively.
 
Jermey said: “Today is a landmark moment – the inauguration of the UK-funded permanent facility for the ACJC; an institution that is really demonstrating that no longer will high-level corruption in Afghanistan be tolerated.  
 
“The UK wholeheartedly congratulates this government for its efforts to really turn the corner on the scourge of corruption that for too long has taken money and services away from the deserving Afghan people. That’s why I’m proud the UK has provided Afghanistan this professional facility, to allow the brave officials of the ACJC to really hold those at the top to account,” he said.
 
Jermey said that by eliminating corruption, the Afghan government must ensure that the Afghan people benefit from international aid.
 
In a statement issued by the British Embassy in Kabul, they said: “As a result of UK funding, Afghanistan will now benefit from the permanent, professional, high quality and secure facility required for the investigators, prosecutors and judges of the ACJC to rightfully hold those at the top to account for any misuse of public funds. The UK-funded facility includes professional offices, two courtrooms, a secured evidence room, Judge’s chambers, a Courthouse holding cell, and a training centre.”
 
“The highly professional security and infrastructure of the new ACJC enables the three institutions that make up the ACJC to work in effective close partnership to end the culture of impunity for corrupt officials without threat or interference. The facility allows for the co-location of elements of the Ministry of Interior, the Attorney General’s Office and the Judiciary to ensure high-level corruption can be tackled head-on, in a process that is insulated from political interference or bureaucracy, from end-to-end.”

High level delegations from the Afghan legal and judicial institutions also attended the gathering and some participants said corruption is one of the major threats to Afghanistan.
 
“Work is being done on major cases involving civilian, military, high level official, deputies and chiefs, some of them have been completed and they are referred to the court while some others are still under investigation,” said head of ACJC appeal court.
 
“We must confess that today corruption remains as one of the biggest challenges to society and the people of Afghanistan,” said a member of the Afghan Supreme Court Abdul Qadir Adalat Khaw.
 
The ACJC is meanwhile set to tackle corruption cases in the next few days that involve senior government officials.  
 
“The attorney general is committed to fighting corruption and will never retreat from it,” said deputy of Afghan attorney general Noor Habib Jalal.