KP minister’s arrest and the endless saga of ‘corruption’

ISLAMABAD: The arrest of KPK minister Ziaullah Afridi should be seen in the context of consistent 2-year efforts to disrupt the Chinese investment in mines, an important case before the Peshawar High Court (PHC) alleging corrupt practices with very strong evidence and taking up of the issue by the Chinese Embassy with the federal and the provincial authorities.
No other option was left and any delay in arrest would have exposed many other powerful characters. Allegations of corruption against Ziaullah have been surfacing for the last more than 24 months.
PTI leaders say that Ziaullah who joined PTI in 2012 never enjoyed good reputation and always faced charges of indulging in illegal businesses before becoming a minister and of corruption after assuming charge of special assistant to chief minister and later as provincial minister.
He was very close to the top party leadership even before 2013 polls and enjoyed this status even after the elections despite the fact that party chief and other top leaders were not only informed but were provided with documentary evidence of his alleged corruption.
Different mining companies allege that senior PTI leader and PTI chief’s close aide Saifullah Niazi is the moving force behind many decisions of the provincial minister for mines and minerals. “Almost all major decisions were seen and approved by Saifullah Niazi and he has record of all mining leases in his office computer in sector G-6 of Islamabad,” alleged Saleem Mughal, CEO of Tuny Pak Mineral (Pvt) Ltd (a Chinese mining investment in Pakistan) while talking to The News. However, when The News asked Saifullah Niazi, he stated, “PTI chief Imran Khan has made a committee comprising me, Asad Umar and Jahangir Tareen to monitor the performance of the ministries in the light of our manifesto.” He said his activities with regard to the provincial ministry of mines were because of his role as member of the monitoring committee.
It is important to mention here that Jahangir Tareen, member of this monitoring committee, also runs a company M/s Indus Mining (Pvt) Ltd and is an important player of KPK’s mining sector.
Ziaullah was very close to the party chief and used to share his pictures with Imran Khan on his Facebook page. In one such picture, he is seen gifting old rifles and guns to PTI chief. According to PTI insiders, Ziaullah was famous in PTI circles for giving expensive and luxurious gifts. Initially, Ziaullah came close to senior PTI leader Asad Qaider and then established close contacts with Saifullah Niazi after through him with Imran Khan. He enjoyed this special status even when serious corruption charges were leveled against him. Some party leaders claim that he met with party chief along with Saifullah Niazi in Banigala only hours before his arrest. DG of his ministry was under arrest since long and he had spilled the beans.
Salim Mughal told The News that rate royalty of extracted marble was increased from Rs30 to Rs60 per ton on which mines association had obtained a stay order from PHC. He said that despite stay order Rs60 per ton was charged from the mining companies but in government papers it was shown as Rs30. He said per annum lease agreement of extracted marble was increased from Rs65 million to Rs70 million whereas it should have been doubled as per ton rate was doubled. He said he would present all receipts and documents to provincial accountability commission on this count to prove the alleged corruption committed by the senior PTI minister. Mughal said M/s Tuny Pak had registered a complaint against Ziaullah Afridi before an anti-corruption unit about one year back, which alleged that the provincial minister was demanding Rs30 million in bribe from him. He said he had provided the evidence to top PTI leadership and had also met a senior PTI leader who is also an MNA but his PS conveyed a message that Tuny Pak should “make settlement” with the provincial minister. He said he also provided evidence to the family members of PTI chief but nothing was done during last two years because Saifullah Niazi has great influence in Banigala.
Saifullah Niazi however told The News that his role was confined to monitoring the ministry’s performance and he never indulged in any other activity. He however admitted a meeting between Ziaullah and PTI chief took place in Banigala in his presence but that was one week before Ziaullah’s arrest. Saifullah said that most allegations against Ziaullah were not true but he refused to comment on details as he said the matter was pending before the court of law.
Senior PTI sources told The News that even before the setting up of provincial accountability commission, a senior official of anti-corruption department had informed top PTI leadership about Ziaullah Afridi’s alleged involvement in corruption during the days of D-Chowk sit-in. However, the senior police official was asked to remain silent as the party was aiming was bigger goals for which minor mistakes could be ignored.
Salim Mughal also said that a few months back PTI made a committee headed by Naeemul Haq to resolve the issue. He said when Naeemul Haq contacted Ziaullah, the latter demanded withdrawal of all complaints and cases against him. Mughal said his company got relief from the PHC in the form of a stay order. Tuny Pak has conducted successful exploration of antimony ore in Chitral with huge financial and technical investment and now the company was seeking mining licence for which it was being asked to pay huge amounts. It is important to mention that there are huge blocks in Chitral spread over a vast area and no one was ready to conduct exploration there.
Saifullah Niazi said that all complaints against the mining ministry were entertained and that the party will not intervene in the court process. After becoming minister Ziaullah changed 6 DGs within eight months. It is alleged that he used to transfer all officers who registered any complaint against any of his wrongdoings or corrupt practices. The officers used to inform Banigala immediately but no relief was ever given. In Ghazi Tehsil, when illegal money was demanded from different contractors who used to take sand for construction purposes, the provincial minister himself transferred two individuals from clerical staff and one assistant director as they were not ready to become part of this cycle and had complained about the illegal activities. According to rough estimates, more than Rs30 million were illegally earned from only this site. There are dozens such venues and dozens of complaints of irregularities, demand of illegal money and frequent transfers of honest officers. Sherbandi, who is president of the mining association, is going to address a press conference at Peshawar Press Club today (Tuesday) to expose corruption in the KPK’s mining ministry.