Afghan Finance Minister to Uber driver in Washington: "I have nowhere to go"
Khalid Faindeh left his country days before it fell to the Taliban last summer, and now lives off of a trip to the U.S. capital. He was in charge of a $ 6 billion budget, and now he earns $ 150 per shift. "I do not belong here and I do not belong there.
It's a great feeling of emptiness "
Guy Elster
20/03/2022
Sunday, 20 March 2022, 14:48
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Until less than a year ago, Khalid Fainde was Afghanistan's finance minister, in charge of a six billion budget for rebuilding the country after 20 years of war.
Last August, however, overthrew him, and his country, fate, as the Taliban rapidly conquered the country while taking advantage of the chaotic retreat of Western forces led by the United States.
About six months later, Fienda now earns a living as an Uber driver in Washington.
"If I complete 50 trips in the next two days, I'll get a $ 95 bonus," Fainde told the Washington Post behind the wheel of his Honda Accord.
On an average night, he earns $ 150 in about six hours, not including his travel expenses.
His former boss, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, has fled Kabul to the United Arab Emirates - reportedly, with $ 169 million in cash.
The former minister, 40, told one of his passengers about his adjustment difficulties in America.
Although he appreciated the opportunity he was given, compared to the many Afghans left trapped under the new Taliban rule, he described that "right now, I have no place. I do not belong here and I do not belong there. It is a great feeling of emptiness."
Fainda was appointed finance minister after his mother died of a coronation at a low-income hospital in the capital, Kabul, in late 2020. He regrets it to this day.
"I saw a lot of ugliness, and we failed," he admitted.
"I was part of the failure. It's that when you see the misery of the people and feel responsible for it."
He spared no criticism from his countrymen about the current situation.
"We have not had the collective desire to pass reforms and be serious," said the former finance minister, who also accused the United States of betraying its commitment to democracy and human rights in Afghanistan, which it invaded following the 9/11 attacks.
"She may have had good intentions at first, but apparently the United States did not really mean it," said Fainde, who resigned about a week before the Taliban occupied Kabul.
He feared that President Ghani would arrest him, and he is a member of his family in the United States.
On the day the capital fell, without a fight, Fainde wrote to a World Bank official in Kabul: "We had 20 years and the whole world's support for building a system that would work for the people. All we built was a house of cards that collapsed so quickly. A house of cards built on foundations of corruption."
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