A report by TOLOnews has found that the Ministry of Interior (MoI) uses 14 million kgs of mutton and beef for the Afghan National Police and that it supposedly purchases the meat at 40 percent less than its actual price on the local market.
 
The report shows that the Afghan National Police uses up to 40,000 kgs of beef and mutton every day and based on the local market price, it costs more than 13 million AFs. However, the MoI spends just over 8.5 million AFs a day.
 
In this report, TOLOnews interviewed a number soldiers at a police outpost in Kunduz.
 
Soldiers at this outpost said they are each given 300 grams of mutton or beef  a day.
 
The report finds the soldiers at the Kunduz outpost do not get meat for lunch but they said they will get 300 grams of meat for dinner every day.
 
“At lunch we usually have rice and beans and vegetables. At dinner we are given 300 grams of meat (beef or mutton). It is good to have meat once a day; it will taste good if you have meat two times a day,” said Azizullah Ayar, a police officer in Kunduz.
 
The report reveals that 39,250 kgs of meat – mutton or beef – is included in the Afghan National Police’s daily food needs across the country.
 
Shopkeepers and butchers in Kabul meanwhile said more than 1,000 cows or sheep are required to make up this order each day.
 
“We will need 70 to 105 kgs of meat to prepare food for 1,000 or 1,500 people. We should count the number of people and then we should purchase meat for them,” said Naqibullah, a butcher.
 
While another shopkeeper said: “We will need 250 kgs of mutton to prepare food for 1,000 people. We will need 11 or 12 sheep to get 250 kgs of mutton for 1,000 people.”
 
The report questions how can the ministry of interior address the demand for mutton and beef for the national police? And is there enough local cattle and sheep to cover this.
 
According to government figures, last year, there were 5,234,499 cows and 13,265,200 sheep across the country.
 
Meanwhile, last year, 8,333,627 kgs of beef was imported at a cost of $4,233,788 USD.
 
“Generally, it is a big contract and its responsibility has been given to provincial branches and the branches provide beef and mutton for our officials. They have centers and abattoirs and they have the responsibility to prepare the meat from inside the country,” MoI spokesman Najib Danish said.
 
Based on the contract, the ministry pays 266 AFs for one kg of mutton and 198 AFs for one kg of beef.
 
But the prices vary in provinces. In Badakhshan the MoI pays 250 AFs for one kg of mutton and 185 AFs for one kg of beef.
 
However, shopkeepers and butchers in Kabul were not prepared to sell mutton and beef at those prices set by the Interior Ministry in the contract.
 
The price for one kg of mutton is 380 AFs at Kabul markets while it is 320 AFs for beef.
 
“The price for a sheep starts from 5,000 AFs up to 12,000 AFs,” said Khoshhal, a cattle seller.
 
“We don’t have business. We are faced with a bad situation. We don’t have benefits (from our business),” said Shirzad, another cattle seller.
 
According to the report, the Ministry of Interior spends more than 8.5 million AFs every day on mutton and beef for the Afghan National Police.
 
However, according to the local market price, the ministry will have to pay more than 13 million AFs. This means that there is a 5.2 million AFs shortfall for the ministry in accordance with their contracts.
 
“Our findings indicate that the contracts of the Ministry of Interior in the past years were full of corruption and many complications in contract affairs. Under the National Unity Government the MoI contracts have not reached the level which we can trust in them in terms of transparency,” Nasir Temori, a researcher of Integrity Watch Afghanistan said.
 
The report has found that the quality of the mutton and beef purchased by the Interior Ministry is not satisfactory.
 
Also the report indicates that a number of police force members who are serving in remote areas are not receiving their allocated meat in their daily meals.