Khaama Press
November 29, 2015
The High Office of Anti-Corruption on Sunday released its report enlisting the current and fixed assets in possession of President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and First Lady Rula Ghani.
According to the report, President Ghani and First Lady Rula Ghani are jointly in possession of the properties which includes $4.817 million in current assets mainly obtained from the sell of properties belonging to their ancestors in Lebanon and United States.
The jewelry in possession of the First Lady is worth $46,000 which was gifted to her by President Ghani’s father in 1970, the report said, adding that President Ghani has a house constructed in 4 acres and 300 meters of land and is located in Dar-ul-Aman area of the city.
The report further added that the property was purchased by President Ghani in 2003 from an individual against $373,000 but the current value of the property has currently increased to $4.22 million.
Meanwhile, the First Lady Mrs. Ghani has a property in Washington having a value of $328,000 and is being financed from the funds she receives from her retirement.
According to the report, President Ghani and First Lady are both having over $71,000 cash in bank which have been obtained from retirement benefits and rent of house in United States.
President Ghani also has 8 personal vehicles with a collective value of over $105 million, the report, said adding that President Ghani and the First Lady also have 7,000 books which are kept in Kabul and Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon.
The report also added that President Ghani has 1,220 acres of land and garden in Kabul and Logar provinces which he has inherited from his father, while the First Lady shares 60 acres of land in Lebanon with his sister and two brothers.
President Ghani also has share in a research firm in United States and has a share of $67,000 and receives around $4,000 in retirement from the World Bank and over $7,000 from the government of Afghanistan.
The First Lady receives around $2,400 rent from her house in United States and their debt include $238,000 which we they had taken in 2006 from a US bank to purchase an apartment and are still payable around $56,000 to the bank.
According to the High Office of Anti-Corruption, the information regarding the properties of President Ghani was released as a part of the practice to implement the Article 154 of the Afghan Institution and Item 8 of Resolution 15, dated 25/July/2015, issued by Office of the President for the publication of the properties of high level government officials.
Millions of dollars from selling land in conflict countries of Afghanistan and Lebanon? Doesn’t make sense. Smells fishy.