Public Administration in Afghanistan: Challenges and Way Forward

Abstract

Public administration is the key instrument of government for ensuring public interests. This article seeks to explore the status of public administration in Afghanistan as well as challenges faced and way forward to sustainable development. A qualitative approach has been employed particularly desk review. A number of secondary sources have been consulted to substantiate the argument. This study reveals that the status of public administration in Afghanistan is very poor, suffering from lack of strong structural body, efficient public administrators, and bureaucracy. The public administration in Afghanistan is still facing major challenges such as corruption, lack of professionalism, absence of rule and law, lack of institutional strategic planning, politicization, and ethnical discrimination. All public agencies are also characterized by lack of transparency, nepotism and concentration of power in even in the judicial system. This article suggests that Afghan government needs a professional team with the strong political leadership with commitment to fight against, administrative corruption, ethnical discrimination, non-transparency and inefficiency to strengthen effective administrative system, and sustainable development. The implementation of rule of law is the prerequisite to ensure good governance and sustainable development. The finding of this research will support the public administrators, researchers, scholars, political leaders and policymakers to make the perfect and practical policies and plans for a sustainable future development in Afghanistan.