We graduated another class of 24 college educated young
Afghans to be contractors for the Ministry (in Kabul and in the Provinces) to
help them flesh out the processes and procedures needed to make this place
run. The hope is that sometime in the
future they will roll into the civil service corps, but frankly I have my
doubts. The average civil servant makes
between $250-$400 a month, while these contractors will make about $1100 a
month which nearly twice that as a one-star General. This is not sustainable. I spoke to the class letting them know just
how important their job will be. I
reminded them that without money, there is no police, and that errors in their
work ties up money that could otherwise be supporting the forces in their
battle with the enemy. They seem to get
it. While I am very hopeful, I am not
naïve. Most will do great work but a few
will get turned by corruption, especially if we leave in place the uniformed
middle managers left over from the Soviet era.
Folks here never get fired, they just get moved to other positions, with
some even getting promoted away.
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