President Ashraf Ghani has fired the minister of energy and water, Ali Ahmad Osmani, from his position, a statement by the Presidential Palace confirmed. 

The statement said Mohammad Gul Khulmi, the deputy minister of energy and water for energy, was appointed as acting minister.

Khulmi will stay in the position until the president introduces a new minister to the Wolesi Jirga, the Lower House of Parliament, the statement said.

“About the energy and water minister. Yes. According to the appointment and firing process, deputy minister of energy and water will be the acting minister of the ministry until a new minister is introduced to the parliament,” said Haroon Chakhansuri, spokesman to President Ghani, as he addressed a press conference on Saturday.

This comes after the energy and water minister was stopped recently by security forces from boarding a flight to Balkh at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.

Sources from the Ministry of Energy and Water say relations between Ghani and Osmani have been strained for a while due to a rift between the minister and Mohammad Humayun Qayumi, one of the president’s advisors.

The sources also said that Ghani stopped meeting with Osmani and that all affairs of the ministry were being run by his adviser – Qayumi.

Last month, Ghani inaugurated an electricity power substation in Khulm district and a power network in Marmul district in Balkh, while Osmani’s absence was noticeable.

Instead, the president was accompanied by Interior Minister Wais Ahmad Barmak – whose ministry was attacked by a number of armed insurgents on the same day.