Maulavi Abdul Hakim Munib

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Maulavi Abdul Hakim Munib (Persian script: ﻣﺎﻟوﻯ عبدالحكيم ﻣﻮﻨﻴﺐ ) (also written "Monib") is an Afghan politician, born about 1971. He is Governor of Oruzgan (also written "Uruzgan") province since March 18, 2006.

[edit] Background

Munib studied Islamic Studies and also took courses at the Afghan Foreign Ministry. He is fluent in Dari and Pashto (Afghanistan's major languages) and speaks some English. Munib is a Pashtun, from the small Ali Khel tribe of Paktia Province. He was a senior official in the Ministry of Tribal & Border Affairs during the Taliban era, and he remains on the UN 1267 Sanctions List of Persons Associated with the Taliban, although he has reconciled with the Government of Afghanistan.

[edit] Political career as governor of Oruzgan

In March 2006, Munib replaced Jan Mohammed as governorg of Oruzgan Province. Mohammed was forced to quit office due to pressure from (amongst others) the Dutch government, who moved into the area with their Task Force Uruzgan in the same month. In his early months as Oruzgan's governor, Munib impressed outsiders with his administrative competence, but because he comes from a different province, he has experienced difficulty in finding local tribal allies to underpin his authority. This is problematic because of Oruzgan's acute security problems stemming from the ongoing Taliban insurgency. ^[1]

In March 2007 he is severely criticized by several representatives from the Wolesi Jirga and the Afghan Health Development Services [1]. The only female representative from Oruzgan, Sona Niloofar, claims that "people don't know where their governor is. He prefers to be in Kabul with his wife. And when he's here, he travels by helicopter" ^[2] . Another representative from Oruzgan, Hashim Watanwal, claims "he is corrupt. I don't understand why the Task Force Uruzgan keeps supporting him". According to various sources, the previous governor Jan Mohammed was more able to keep the Taliban at bay and gave the province a certain level of security. This has deprecated since Munib is governor.