[TOLONEWS] Afghan citizens paid as much as US$3.9 billion in bribes to officials in 2012, according to a report released Thursday by the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC).Underscoring the immensity of the estimated amount, the UNODC said it is about double the government's revenue gained for its services in 2010 and 2011, and about one-fourth the amount pledged at the Tokyo conference in July by the international community to support Afghanistan's development.
The bribes are primarily paid to officials in the police, local government, judiciary, and education sectors, it added.
"Nobody in this country or interested in this country would deny the fact that corruption is a major problem, plaguing the government services and the way overall, the government is being perceived," UNODC regional representative Jean-Luc Lemahieu said Thursday at a press conference in Kabul.
The 2012 figure is a substantial increase on the UNODC's estimated total for 2009 of $2.4 billion.
However, some achievements in the battle against graft have been made. According to the study in which 6,700 citizens were interviewed -- 42 percent of whom were women -- there has been a nine percent decrease in the number of people who pay bribes, although the average bribe amount has increased a massive 40 percent to $214, up from $158 in 2009.
The survey states that the breakdown of bribes paid to the private sector versus the government sector showed that 30 percent of interviewees had paid bribes to non-governmental organisations compared to 50 percent who had paid bribes to a government department. In money terms, $600 million was paid to for the non-government sector which was 15 percent less than that paid to the government.
In the police force, bribe-taking has decreased from 52 to 42 percent, but the corruption in the education sector has increased from 51 to 60 percent.
"The Afghan population considers corruption as the number two most important issue after the insecurity problems," Lemahieu said.
Indicating corruption proportions across different parts of Afghanistan, the study showed that bribes were paid by 71 percent of the population in the west, 60 percent in the north-east, 40 percent in the south, and 39 percent in central areas.
It also noted that in the south of the country, most of the bribes were provided by non-government organisations and individuals especially the elders, mullahs, and those within the Taliban.
"Among the tribal elders, representatives of local areas, district councils, provincial councils, and aid organisations, there is corruption. People have complained. They have complained of consulates where you have to pay $400, $500, $800 to $2000 dollars to get a visa," said Mohammd Rafi Amini, Director General of Strategy and Policy at Afghanistan's High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption.
The UNODC said a strong political will was needed to reduce the nation-wide corruption and called on citizens to put their strongest efforts into wiping out the problem.