Wolesi Jirga Speaker Accused of Corruption, Misuse of Authority

The members of Wolesi Jirga—Lower House of the Parliament—have accused the House Speaker Abdul Raouf Ibrahimi of massive corruption and misuse of his authority.

On Saturday’s session, the lawmakers claimed that Ibrahimi had poor management of the House and his hands were contaminated with corruption.

They claimed that the House Speaker had embezzled large amount of money from the Parliament’s budget.

Calling for the immediate dismissal of Abdul Raouf Ibrahimi from his position, the MPs stated that the Speaker had allotted many government seats to his family members and relatives.

“I personally accuse him of misuse of his authority,” female lawmaker Nafisa Azimi said. “Either Mr. Speaker should resign himself or he should once again take vote of confidence from the House.”

Another lawmaker claimed, “He has now become a millionaire, owns large buildings, he was appointed as speaker based on political deals, now I want my colleagues to remove him from his seat.”

But the House Speaker vehemently denied the accusations against him, saying he had never misused of his authority.

After the new government was formed, President Ashraf Ghani directed to reopen the Kabul Bank scandal as part of his promise to fight corruption during his five-year term.