Civil society institutions have been pushed to the sidelines in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, officials of the Anti-corruption and Governance Committee said.
 
The committee members said that the role of civil society institutions shouldn’t be a symbolic role in overseeing the fight against the pandemic
 
They said the committee was "gravely concerned" about a possible rise in corruption in the fight against the coronavirus.
 
“Citizens and the civil society in Afghanistan have the right to oversee different procurements and other operational processes at the national level in the fight against coronavirus. It is also essential to reduce corruption and financial irregularity,” said Abdullah Ahmadi, a member of the Anti-Corruption and Governance Committee.
 
“Overall there is concern among the civil society institutions regarding corruption and the process of delivering services,” said Lailuma Naseri, a member of the committee.
 
“The Afghan government has not consulted civil society institutions when it comes to the issue of fighting against corruption and amending the budget plan,” said Naser Taimoori, a committee member.
 
Last month, Integrity Watch Afghanistan (IWA) also blamed the Afghan government for trying to monopolize foreign funds it receives from the international community to fight COVID-19.
 
The IWA said that such a move will lead to further expansion of mistrust between the government and the donors.
 
The Afghan government has assured that the aid it receives from the international community in the fight against COVID-19 will be allocated effectively and in a systematic manner.
 
Latest COVID-19 Figures:
 
The Afghan Ministry of Public Health on Saturday said 782 new positive cases of COVID-19 were registered over the past 24 hours, bringing the total positive cases to 9,998.
 
The number of total known active cases in Afghanistan is 8,742, said the MoPH.
 
According to the Health Ministry, 11 people reportedly lost their lives over the past 24 hours and 44 more recovered. The known death toll from the coronavirus is now 216.
The total number of recoveries is 1,040.
 
Kabul is a hotspot for the virus, with 377 reported cases in the past twenty-four hours.
 
The new cases, according to the ministry, were reported in Kabul (377), Herat (150), Balkh (49), Ghazni (47), Nangarhar (32), Paktia (28), Samangan (21), Paktika (12), Kunar (10), Kapisa (11), Baghlan (12), Logar (12), Farah (4), Ghor (4), Laghman (6), Badghis (4) and Takhar (3).
 
So far, 29,417 people have been tested in the country.