A number of anti-corruption experts and members of the Academy of Sciences of Afghanistan on Sunday warned that the menace of corruption will prevail in the country unless the government takes firm steps against those involved in this regard in the public offices.

They said that the culture of bribery has worsened the nation and that the government should firmly fight the trend.

Organized by the Academy of Sciences, an anti-corruption research seminar was held in Kabul where the speakers rallied for serious war against the trend.

“Sometimes, we see that bribes are taken freely and no one is there to deal with it,” said Abdul Wali Basirat, member of the Academy of Sciences.

“A successful society is a society where there is no corruption; therefore, we need to fight corruption in the institutions of our great country Afghanistan. We need to find the way to fight it practically,” said Abdul Zahir Shakib, head of the Academy of Sciences.  

Other speakers said the only way to overcome the challenge is that government should take firm action against corrupt elements regardless of their positions.

“Corruption will not be eliminated until there is corruption in high levels,” said Mohammad Yusuf Azimi, member of the academy.  

“The government has responsibility to fight corruption. The question that how much we will be successful in this mission is a separate matter,” said Burhanullah Niazi, member of the academy.

Corruption has been one of the key challenges which has brought the Afghan government under local and global pressure over the past several years.