VZCZCXRO7761
RR RUEHDBU RUEHPW RUEHSL
DE RUEHBUL #4016/01 3491322
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 151322Z DEC 09 ZDS
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4001
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 004016 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM, INL/AP, L 
STATE PASS AID FOR ASIA/SCAA 
USFOR-A FOR POLAD 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PINS PHUM CA AF
SUBJECT: Kandahar Governor Highlights Governance and Development 
Challenges 
 
REF: A. KABUL 3659 
     ¶B. KABUL 3472 
 
KABUL 00004016  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: In a December 12 meeting, Kandahar Governor Weesa 
briefed Ambassador Wayne on governance and development challenges in 
his province.  Weesa highlighted the need to improve capacity at the 
district level, strengthen the judicial sector, and improve power 
generation and distribution to boost development.  A friendly and 
knowledgeable interlocutor, the Governor demonstrated little acumen 
for working around the huge challenges to governance posed by the 
Kandahar's tribal, political, and criminal powerbrokers.  End 
Summary. 
 
District Governors Lacking in Qualifications 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) During a December 11-12 US-Canadian joint trip to 
Kandahar, Coordinating Director for Development and Economic Affairs 
Ambassador E. Anthony Wayne and Canadian Ambassador to Afghanistan 
William Crosbie met with officials at Kandahar Air Field (KAF), 
Forward Operating Base Wilson in Kandahar's Zhari Province, and the 
Canadian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (KPRT) in Kandahar City. 
 The focus of the two-day visit was governance and development 
planning in the province, and enhanced coordination between the 
United States, Canada, and the Afghan Government (GIRoA). 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Meeting on December 12 at KAF, Kandahar Governor Toryalai 
Weesa outlined the challenges he faces in improving governance at 
the district level, highlighting the severe shortage of 
qualifications of many district governors.  Observing that district 
governors usually had university degrees and experience in the 
1970s, he lamented that tribal affiliations have become the leading 
factor for selection today, which is also the case with 
district-level Chiefs of Police.  Observing that the Independent 
Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG) appoints the district 
governors while the Ministry of the Interior (MoI) names Chiefs of 
Police, the Governor complained that this severely limited his 
ability to influence the selection or termination of these 
officials. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Governor Weesa highlighted the need to provide governors 
with budget authority if they are to have the ability to carry out 
governance responsibilities.  Ambassador Wayne noted that 
discussions in Kabul on a performance-based governance fund were 
proceeding, with an effort to resolve overlapping interests and 
authorities between the IDLG and the Ministry of Reconstruction and 
Rural Development (MRRD).  He cited recent discussions with MRRD 
Minister Zia over a possible way forward which would enable District 
Development Councils, led by MRRD, to focus on development while the 
Afghan Social Outreach Program (ASOP) focuses on governance, 
political, and security issues. 
 
Justice Sector Not Effective 
---------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Governor Weesa called the courts and the state attorney's 
office major problems facing the justice sector in Kandahar.  The 
lead prosecutor for Kandahar was not even a law school graduate, he 
said, and local residents are unable to obtain decisions or 
adjudication of disputes from the legal system.  Instead they are 
forced to pay off officials in the justice sector to resolve issues, 
he stated.  The senior judge, for example, maintained his family in 
Saudi Arabia, which would not be possible on his modest salary.  A 
system of judicial brokers also influences verdicts, he stated. 
 
 
Energy a Key Impediment to Development 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) While business in Kandahar City has increased, the lack of 
electricity is a major impediment to development, Governor Weesa 
said, observing that some 90 small factories were currently closed 
due to the lack of power.  The two most important challenges were to 
generate more power from the Kajaki Dam and to guarantee fuel 
deliveries for diesel-powered electic power plants.  The insurgency 
has complicated increasing the yield of the Kajaki Dam (reftels), 
while diesel powered plants rely on funds from the Ministry of 
Economy, which are slow to arrive, which then hold up payments to 
contractors, who then do not make deliveries until they are paid, he 
noted.  To improve delivery from Kajaki, the Governor recommended 
upgrades to the distribution system, which is some 90-years old and 
loses about 40-50 percent of power generated through an aged 
distribution system.  Another way to improve hydroelectric power 
deliveries was from the Arghandab River, he said, a signature 
Canadian project. 
 
Comment 
 
KABUL 00004016  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) While we hear rumors that Kabul will name a new governor 
in Kandahar, Governor Weesa gave no indication that he was about to 
move to a new post or step down.  A pleasant interlocutor with an 
excellent understanding of the major issues facing the province, he 
has shown little acumen to work around the tribal, political, and 
criminal groups that block even basic progress on the most important 
governance, judicial, and development challenges.  With coalition 
security forces about to converge around Kandahar City, we should 
have new opportunities to seize the initiative on governance and 
economic development, but Governor Weesa does not seem to be up to 
navigating these factions and powerbrokers to bring about 
significant change.  The visiting Ambassadors heard an identical 
assessment of the problems with electric power during a visit to the 
Kandahar City Power Station, which generates electricity for the 
city via diesel turbines and operates with USAID funding. 
 
¶8.  (U) This message has been coordinated with RC(South). 
 
EIKENBERRY