A number of MPs in the Afghan parliament criticized the acting finance minister Mohammad Humayun Qayumi for “back-to-back” foreign trips and for “being busy in political activities” instead of focusing on his main duties. A document shows that Mr. Qayumi has had 10 foreign trips in the past two months. The document shows that Qayumi has traveled to Fiji, the Netherlands, Brussels (two times), the United States, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Luxemburg between May 2 and July 13.

Qayumi, who was appointed as acting minister of finance last July 2018, is also serving as a senior advisor to President Ghani on infrastructures, human resources and technology and as a Ghani’s special advisor for Central Asia affairs. “Qayumi is among the figures who have the most support of the president. This ‘endless’ support helps Qayumi not to be responsive for monitoring institutions including the parliament and even other institutions,” said Abdul Qayum Sajjadi, an MP. Sources from the Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah’s office said Qayumi has participated only in one meeting of the Council of Ministers since last year. Based on the law, acting ministers’ period up to two months but Mr. Qayumi has remained in the post for the last one year.   The Finance Ministry's spokesman Shamroz Khan Masjidi said the acting minister is making the foreign trips for official activities.

Documents reveal that the acting Minister of Finance--and top adviser to President Ashraf Ghani-- Mohammad Humayon Qayoumi, received a $255,000 salary from a private firm in the US in 2017. A year earlier, in 2016, Mr. Qayoumi received a $105,000 salary from the same group, the US-based Institute For State Effectiveness, while he was serving as Ghani’s top advisor.  The documents show that the Institute for State Effectiveness was founded by President Ashraf Ghani in  2013. Also according to the documents, in recent years the Institute for State Effectiveness and the Afghan government worked together on several projects which increased the income of the institute. The institute’s earning ratio shows that it increased threefold every year since  2016. Officials from Integrity Watch Afghanistan stated that their agency has not received answers to their questions about the institute, nor questions about how it operates with the Afghan Ministry of Finance. A number of lawmakers in the parliament also said it was against the law to receive a salary from a foreign entity while serving as an advisor to the president of Afghanistan. Qayoumi’s administrstive head did say that Qayoumi served as an advisor between  2016 and  2017, and did not earn a salary.

The Afghan Senate’s Complaints Commission on Thursday Oct 17, 2019 referred Mohammad Humayon Qayoumi to the Attorney General, following reports that Qayoumi had received a $255,000 salary from a private institute in the US in 2017. Qayoumi is the acting Minister of Finance--and top adviser to President Ashraf Ghani. Zalmay Zabuli, the head of the Senate’s Complaints Commission, described Qayoumi’s financial behavior as an act of national treason and said that it is linked to the lack of transparency in the Ministry of Finance. In the past, Qayoumi has faced severe criticism for his failure to attend meetings of the Council of Ministers, as well as for his trips abroad, and his absence from the Ministry of Finance.(20191017)