Tajikistan: anti-corruption fighters lost sight of president’s crimes
Sulaimon Sultonzoda, Director of the Agency for State Financial Control and Combating Corruption of Tajikistan, said at a press conference that in the first half of the year, the Agency’s employees had identified 1,218 corruption crimes, 482 of which are classified as serious ones.
Answering journalists’ questions, the head of the Agency noted that not a single fact of the sale of humanitarian aid was registered in the country.
“The spending of funds from all sources to the COVID-19 Fund is strictly controlled by the authorities. Along with this, not a single case of receiving a “remuneration” by doctors working with coronavirus positive patients has been registered in Tajikistan, ”he said.
Recall that the scandal surrounding the sale of humanitarian aid arriving in the country began with the forcing medical staff to buy protective suits. Also, drugs and protective equipment from the humanitarian aid were seen in the pharmacies across the country. In Tajikistan, this is attributed to the fact that the medical sector in the country is fully controlled by one of the president’s daughters. Also, almost all members of the president’s family distributed humanitarian aid on their behalf.
Meanwhile, over the past 6 months, the Anti-Corruption Agency identified 41 cases when employees of state institutions hired their relatives, which is prohibited by law in Tajikistan. In all these cases, appropriate decisions have already been made, or an investigation is underway. However, fighters against corruption found such offenses only from the side of minor officials, such as directors of general education schools and other budgetary spheres. At the same time, not a single fact was found among the senior officials who violated this law.
The Anti-Corruption Agency did not notice the fact that the president appointed his daughter to be the head of his staff and raised his son to the rank of the second person of the state a long time ago. Besides, dozens of the president’s relatives head various departments in the country.
