By Request

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "COIN Operator":

Blue, I have couple of questions, if you don't mind giving a government lesson. What is the set up of their local government? Who do your ANP officers report to? And how does all of this work with a culture that is traditionally tribal? Thanks for writting such great posts, stay safe and keep up the good work.

LMJ

My reply:

That's a great question, and one that I can't believe that I haven't addressed before; so here goes...

At the village level, the tribal system is alive and well. The villages are ruled by the elders. The village has a Shura, or council, that consists of the elders. The Shura meets on a regular basis to make decisions on village issues and at times to dispense justice concerning minor (and sometimes major) matters. The village also has a Malek, or mayor.

Each district also has a Shura. The district will also have a sub-governor. The Provincial Governor appoints the Sub-governor. The President, Hamid Karzai, appoints the Provincial Governors directly. This is sometimes a bone of contention among the locals who know about our system of representative government, as the top officials at the district and provincial level are appointed and not elected.

The Police are a separate entity. They are the Afghan National Police, and do not derive their authority from local government like our state and local police do at home. They are more like the German Polizei, true national police.

The ANP belong to the Ministry of Interior (MoI.) The Minister of the Interior is the top official. The ANP do not report to, nor do they rely upon the pleasure of the various governors. This was done to limit the ability of the governors and sub-governors to suborn the Police.

They still try, though. There are repeated attempts by governors and sub-governors to order the Police to do or not do various things. I have had experiences with several sub-governors who are just as crooked as the day is long. They attempt to co-opt the Police into supporting their shenanigans or coerce them into leaving their cronies alone.

The District Police Chiefs are usually Lieutenant Colonels, occasionally Majors or full Colonels. The Provincial Chief is a General, but this position is often filled with a full Colonel.

I hope that this gives an idea of the structure of local government in Afghanistan. There are many permutations of how these relationships manifest themselves, of course.

I have not, personally, seen any of the above positions held by a woman, although I believe that there is at least one female governor. I'll see if I can find out. It is certainly not the case in the provinces in which I've worked.