Nepotism in Tajikistan – everything comes from the top

Umedjon Rahmon, the nephew of the President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, has been appointed as the prosecutor of the city of Gissar. Since mid-2022, this position was held by Bahodur Hamid, reports Radio Ozodi.

This appointment has not been officially announced anywhere yet, but two informed sources told Radio Ozodi on April 29 that Umedjon Rahmon began working as the prosecutor of Gissar a month ago. Until the end of January this year, he held the position of prosecutor of the Sino district in the capital.

39-year-old Umedjon Rahmon is the son of Nuriddin (Khayriddin) Rahmon, the brother of Emomali Rahmon. Nuriddin Rahmon passed away in 2017. Umedjon Rahmon graduated from the law faculty of Tajik National University in 2005 and holds the rank of colonel of justice. Previously, Emomali Rahmon appointed another nephew, Islomiddin Rahmon, as the head of the Antimonopoly Service of Tajikistan. He previously headed the government of the Danghara district.

Opposition representatives and Western human rights organizations constantly criticize the President of Tajikistan for nepotism and monopolization of power. Emomali Rahmon has seven daughters and two sons. Currently, many close relatives of President Emomali Rahmon hold key positions in the highest legislative and executive authorities. The eldest son of the head of state, Rustam Emomali, is the chairman of the Majlisi Milli (upper house of parliament) and the mayor of Dushanbe. Ozoda Rahmon, the president’s daughter, heads the executive office of the head of state. Another daughter, Rukhshona Emomali, is the ambassador of Tajikistan to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, and her husband, Shamsullo Sokhibov, is considered the most successful entrepreneur in Tajikistan. Together with his brother Zokhir Sokhibov, they have monopolized the fuel market and other profitable sectors of the economy in Tajikistan.

Another daughter of the Tajik president, Takhmina Rahmon, along with her husband Zarifbek Davlatov, is engaged in business. Radio Ozodi’s investigation revealed that they own the company “Agency of Air Communications,” which has been granted all rights to sell airline tickets. Ashrafjon Gulov, the husband of another daughter of the president, Parvina Rahmon, holds the position of Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Tajikistan to Turkey. Another daughter of the head of Tajikistan, Zarina Rahmon, is married to the son of Beg Sabur, the head of the Communications Service of Tajikistan. Hasan Asadullozoda, the brother-in-law of the President of Tajikistan, heads “Orientbank,” the largest credit institution in the country.

However, the president and his relatives have never commented on the accusations of nepotism. Jumma Davlat, the head of the Agency for State Service, responded in May 2017 to a journalist’s question about the legality of Rustam Emomali’s appointment as the chairman of Dushanbe: “If someone was born into the family of the president of the country, can they not be appointed to a responsible position?”

The authors of the new country report by the U.S. Department of State on human rights, published on April 23, 2024, point to the unlimited power of Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon and his family in the economy and politics.