Karzai sacks governors

KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai sacked five governors and made changes to the leadership of almost a third of the country’s 34 provinces yesterday in a shakeout of corrupt or inept officials aimed at soothing foreign donors.
In sweeping changes also tightening his own political influence, Karzai dumped five provincial chiefs including the high-profile head of volatile Helmand province, Gulab Mangal, who had close ties with Karzai’s international backers.
Some of the changes, made following a decree issued by Karzai two months ago ordering a crackdown on nepotism and corruption, will mean powerful governors are replaced with ones more open to influence from Karzai’s office and officials in Kabul ahead of a presidential election in 2014.
“We hope that the new changes bring good governance and reforms in the provinces and affect the daily lives of Afghans,” said Rafi Ferdous of the government’s Office of Administrative Affairs in announcing the changes.
But the changes will also worry donors, with Mangal in particular having been central to NATO plans to improve security in Helmand, where insurgents last week attacked a major NATO base, destroying $200 million worth of fighter jets and killing two foreign soldiers, including a senior officer.