Afghan anti-graft watchdog calls for sweeping changes

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani must clear out a whole generation of dishonest government officials to tackle an endemic culture of corruption, the head of a foreign-funded watchdog said day.
Ghani has vowed to crack down on corruption since he came to power in September, but he faces a massive challenge after graft boomed in Afghanistan since 2001 as billions of dollars flowed into the country.
Afghanistan is one of the world's most corrupt nations, along with North Korea and Somalia, and it is set for a tough economic future as aid funding falls and the US-led military coalition pulls out.

Former president Hamid Karzai was often criticised for allowing corruption to flourish during his 13-year reign.
Eva Joly, the French chairwoman of the Anti-Corruption Monitoring and Evaluation Committee (MEC), said that Ghani showed strong signs of wishing to reform Afghanistan's graft-riddled authorities.
"He is allergic to corruption," she told AFP. "He knows the damage that corruption can cause in the search for peace and development.

"I think the legal system must change because the current administration has been set up by Karzai. And there must be a generational change, a whole renewal."
Ghani, who built a reputation for fighting corruption as finance minister 2002-2004, has already made a mark as president by re-opening a trial into the $900-million collapse of Kabul Bank in 2010.

Two bank executives were given longer jail terms and huge fines last week, while other suspects will also now be investigated over the scandal.
Joly, a former magistrate and a member of the European parliament, called for the attorney general to be sacked and for prosecutors to be properly protected.
"Afghanistan is a country of 'warlords' who have more power than we know," she said.
"As long as prosecutors think they are risking their health, their careers and even their lives, you can not expect them to go beyond their limits.
"The political will is at the top of everything. And I think the new president and his team has a very important role to play in showing a clear example.