Personnel changes in the anti-corruption agency

The President of Tajikistan has dismissed a number of key leaders of the anti-corruption agency.

According to the press service of the President of Tajikistan, on February 7, 2024, Emomali Rahmon dismissed the first deputy and deputy director of the Agency for State Financial Control and Combating Corruption of the Republic of Tajikistan, as well as the heads of departments of this agency.

It is reported that “the positions of first deputy and deputy director of the Agency for State Financial Control and Combating Corruption of the Republic of Tajikistan, in agreement with the Head of State, the heads of departments of the Agency for State Financial Control and Combating Corruption of the Republic of Tajikistan in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, the city of Dushanbe, in the Sughd and Khatlon regions, the Kulob zone of the Khatlon region, and the heads of some departments of the central office of the Agency for State Financial Control and Combating Corruption have been filled by experienced and young, promising personnel.”

The press service of the President of Tajikistan notes that the first deputy and deputy director of the anti-corruption agency were dismissed with the wording “in connection with the transition to another job.” It is unknown what specific job they were transferred to.

On January 19, 2024, at a meeting of the Security Council of Tajikistan, the head of the Security Council and President Emomali Rahmon expressed dissatisfaction with the prevention and fight against corruption and economic crimes of a corrupt nature. At this meeting, Emomali Rahmon ordered the dismissal of the head of the department of the Agency for State Financial Control and Combating Corruption in the Khatlon region and his deputies, the head of the department of the Agency for State Financial Control in the cities and districts of the Kulob zone, and others.

A year ago, when Emomali Rahmon appointed new personnel to leadership positions in the Agency for State Financial Control and Combating Corruption at the city and district levels, he presented them to the public as honest, young, and promising professionals.

However, at the beginning of this year, at a meeting of the Security Council of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon noted the “low professional level, incompetence in the performance of official duties, instances of corruption, involvement of some employees of law enforcement, supervisory bodies, and security forces in the illegal drug trade, goods and products, hiring random and unprofessional individuals into the ranks of the agencies, selection and improper placement of personnel by the leaders of the agencies.”

All of this is happening against the backdrop of the international anti-corruption organization Transparency International recognizing Tajikistan as one of the most corrupt countries in the region in its Corruption Perceptions Index. According to this data, Tajikistan has worsened its position, dropping 4 places to rank 162nd out of 180 countries with only 20 points. The report notes that in 2023, Tajikistan has joined the ranks of authoritarian states that are at a historic low this year, with bribery and corruption flourishing even more strongly in Tajikistan.