Are pay increases the answer for the Afghan police?
There are about 93,000 Afghan police at present. Based on fatality statistics, it is a far more dangerous job than being a member of the army. Like many in the region, the police have a terrible reputation for corruption. This is not a unique situation in the developing world. In many police forces in Asia continued sinecure is dependent on procuring a steady slice of bribes to be passed upwards to one’s sponsor in the administration. For a humorous aside on this topic, read just such an eye witness account of police corruption, “Gin & Tonics with a Taser Twist; A tourist’s view of corruption in Cambodia”, written by a friend of the Clarity.
However, the situation in Afghanistan is less amusing, and the police are a key strategic component of the longer term solution in the country. In an attempt to attract more applicants and to make at least a symbolic gesture at combating corruption, the Kabul administration has just announced it will increase pay scales for the police in the range of 33 to 67%. It sounds impressive until you realize that the pay advantage for operating in high risk provinces with elevated fatality counts is only a maximum of $40. That doesn’t seem that much of a reward to make a difference in either recruitment appeal or to stamp out corruption. $40 is not much of legacy for an Afghan family potentially deprived of its male breadwinner
Sphere: Related ContentAfghanistan is hiking police salaries by between 33 and 67 percent, the Interior Ministry said Wednesday, to curb rampant corruption and boost recruitment in a force that suffers much higher casualty rates than the insurgency-wracked country's army.
Police are seen as crucial to improving security and eventually allowing foreign troops to go home. But many police complain they are underpaid and under-equipped. President Hamid Karzai has said he wants Afghan forces to take the lead in securing the nation within five years.
Interior Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar said salaries will increase from $180 (€120) to $240 (€160) for police in high-threat provinces – a 33 percent rise. In lower risk areas, they will increase to $200 (€133) from the current $120 (€80) – a 67 percent rise
