President Ashraf Ghani calls for “Holy War” against corruption

Addressing an anti-corruption conference in Kabul on September 1, Ghani said religious clerics should encourage people to participate in the fight.

He also said the government had speeded up fight against corruption, but that it will take time to root it out.

“Our people is not corrupt, religious scholars are not corrupt, there are a number of limited officials and traffickers who have put our people reputation at risk. People must not accept corruption, now the main problem is that people think corruption is something natural,” Ghani added.

Ghani, who has been in power for nearly a year, said graft in government contracts, land grabbing, illegal drug production, and trafficking are major problems.

He added that education is key to ending corruption.

Transparency International ranks Afghanistan among the most corrupt countries in the world.