Local sources claim that the Taliban have hired several fictitious individuals as vaccinators during the polio vaccination campaign at the Taliban’s Public Health Directorate in Takhar province and are dividing the money allocated to them among themselves.
Sources told the Hasht-e Subh Daily on Thursday, September 3, that a polio vaccination campaign is scheduled to be conducted across the country, including Takhar province, during which temporary staff will be hired for positions such as “coordinator, supervisor, and volunteer.”
The sources claim that the head of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) at the Taliban’s Public Health Directorate in Takhar, in cooperation with the director of the department, includes several fictitious volunteers on the list during each round of the campaign and divides their payments among themselves.
They add that some experienced employees who have worked on the polio programme for between 10 and 15 years have been sidelined and replaced by individuals who are willing to pay money to secure employment.
The sources also claim that more than 10 professional and experienced employees have been dismissed from their positions for refusing to pay money.
The sources say that hiring fictitious individuals could disrupt the implementation of the polio vaccination campaign, particularly at a time when polio cases are increasing in Afghanistan.
