Ashraf Ghani – Updated May 2023

Ashraf Ghani is a well-known Afghan former politician, academic and economist. Ashraf Ghani ruled Afghanistan as president from September 2014 until the Taliban overthrew his administration in August 2021.

Early life and childhood

Ashraf Ghani was born on May 19, 1949, in Logar Province, Kingdom of Afghanistan. His age is currently 73 years. He was born to his parents Shah Pesand (father) and Kawbaba Lodin (mother). Ghani also has a brother named Hashmat Ghani Ahmadzai. Also, his father is an office worker and his mother is a housewife. He has Afghan nationality and is of Middle Eastern ethnicity. According to his birth date, he was born under the sun sign Taurus.

Education

Most of his primary education was completed in Afghanistan. He received secondary education from her in Kabul. However, Ghani attended Lake Oswego High School (LOHS) in Lake Oswego, Oregon during the 1966-1967 academic year as an exchange student under the name Ashraf Ahmad. Her time abroad was funded by the United States Field Service. She participated in the student government.

He graduated from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon with a bachelor’s degree in political studies in 1973. Ghani worked as a professor at Kabul University from 1973 to 1977, as well as Aarhus University in Denmark in 1977. With a scholarship from government, graduated with a master’s degree in cultural anthropology from Columbia University in 1977.

Ghani intended to stay for two years, but the start of the 1978 Saur Revolution resulted in the imprisonment of most of her male family members. He remained at Columbia, where in 1983 he earned a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology. ‘Production and Domination: Afghanistan, 1747-1901’ was the title of her doctoral research paper. Conrad M. Arensberg, Richard Bulliet, Morton Fried, and Robert F. Murphy were her thesis advisors.

Career before returning to Afghanistan (1983-2001)

Academic career (1983-1991)

After receiving his Ph.D., he taught briefly at the University of California, Berkeley in 1983 before serving as an Associate Professor at Johns Hopkins University from 1983 to 1991. His studies focused on social change and state-building. He completed a year of fieldwork studying Pakistani madrassas in 1985 while working as a Fulbright scholar.

World Bank (1991-2001)

Ghani was appointed Senior Anthropologist at the World Bank in 1991. He worked on various projects for five years during this time in China, India, and Russia. After the mid-1990s, he went on to develop reform programs, review country plans, and contribute to the Bank’s social policy. He participated in the World Bank-Stanford Graduate School of Business and Harvard-INSEAD leadership development programs while working for the Bank.

Return to Afghanistan (2001-2013)

After leaving Afghanistan for 24 years, he finally returned in December 2001. Ghani rose to prominence in the Afghan Interim Administration after the fall of the Taliban that year, which lasted from December 2001 to July 2002.

To serve as special advisor to Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi at the UN, the special representative of the UN Secretary General in Afghanistan, he resigned from his job at the World Bank. The Bonn Agreement, which detailed the post-Taliban government of Afghanistan, was designed and put into effect while he was in office. He also served Hamid Karzai, who was then interim president, as his top adviser during this time. While he was preparing for the Loya Jirgas that finally elected Karzai, he approved the constitution.

Finance Minister (2002-2004)

Ghani was appointed finance minister in the new Afghan transitional government, headed by President Karzai, on June 2, 2002. This administration served until 2004, when a “fully representative government” would take his place.

He implemented a series of significant reforms, such as the creation of a new currency, the computerization of treasury operations, the establishment of a single treasury account, the adoption of a balanced budget policy, and the use of budgets as the main tool for implement centralization policies for tax collection, tariff reform and customs reform.

To improve transparency and accountability, it established regular reporting to the cabinet, the general public, and international stakeholders. In addition, he ordered donors to focus their efforts on three sectors while preparing a development strategy that would make Afghans more responsible for their own future development. He helped with the National Solidarity Program, which included 13,000 of the 20,000 villages believed to exist in the country.

President of the Transition Coordination Commission (2010-2013)

He headed the Afghan Transition Coordination Commission (TCC) from 2010 until October 1, 2013, which was in charge of transferring authority from ISAF/NATO forces to the Afghan Security Forces. During this period, he made extensive trips throughout Afghanistan.

Ghani attended the International Conference on Afghanistan in London on January 28, 2010, where he expressed his support for the effort to rebuild that nation. In support of Karzai’s approach to reconciliation, Ghani gave Karzai his views as an illustration of the value of collaboration among Afghans and with the international community.

Ghani said watching Karzai’s second presidential speech in November 2009 and his promises to prevent corruption, promote peace and move foreign security personnel convinced him to help. To run for president in 2014, he left office on October 1, 2013.

Presidency (2014-2021)

Sarwar Danish, a Hazara and former justice minister in Karzai’s cabinet, and General Abdul Rashid Dostum, a well-known Uzbek politician and former military man, were handpicked by Ghani as his vice-presidential candidates after declaring his candidacy in the 2014 election. Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, the two favorites from the first round, competed in the second round. It was held on June 14, 2014, after none of the candidates managed to gather more than 50% of the votes in the first round.

Caption: Ashraf Ghani was caught on one of his shows Source: News18

The initial results of the second round indicated that Ghani was the clear favorite to win. However, allegations of voter fraud led to a deadlock, violent threats and the establishment of a shadow government by Abdullah Abdullah’s campaign.

On August 7, 2014, US Secretary of State John Kerry traveled to Kabul to negotiate a deal that required a comprehensive review of nearly 8 million votes and the formation of a national unity government. And the creation of a new position for the chief executive, who would perform important functions within the administration of the president.

Further…

The Independent Election Commission declared Ghani president after a three-month audit process that was overseen by the United Nations and funded by the US government. Ghani had already committed to a national unity deal. The electoral commission initially stated that it would not formally publish particular results. Later, he released a statement stating that Ghani received 55.4% of the vote and Abdullah Abdullah received 43.5%, but chose not to disclose the specific vote totals.

Since the establishment of the Durrani Empire in 1747, Ghani, now 65, has been the oldest Afghan king to take office. He overtook Mohammed Daoud Khan to become the oldest sitting president when he was re-elected in 2019 at the age of 70.

Political Views

Ghani is a progressive modernist who aspires to “transform Afghanistan from a patronage-based tribal society into a modern technocratic state.” Both King Amanullah Khan, a progressive Afghan king in the 1920s, and General Sardar Mohammed Daoud Khan, a former Afghan Prime Minister and first President of the Republic of Afghanistan in the 1970s, are highly admired by him.

Controversy

The Uzbek people of Afghanistan were angered by Ashraf Ghani’s controversial comments about Timur and Muhammad de Ghor on February 2, 2020. He said that while speaking about history, culture and national identity to a group of young Afghans. According to Ghani, Genghis Khan destroyed the irrigation system in the northern regions, while Muhammad of Ghor ruined the country’s central irrigation system.

Ghani also referred to the Turkish conqueror Amir Timur by the Persian nickname “Timur Lang” (Timur the Lame). And it was claimed that Timur destroyed the irrigation system of Sistan, Farah and Helmand districts. Experts say his comments about Timur offended Uzbeks and the Uzbek community in Afghanistan condemned him for them.

Following his comments, the citizens of Faryab province protested and demanded an apology from Ashraf Ghani. If Ghani refused to go back on his words, the protesters threatened to take drastic measures. Abdul Rashid Dostum, a former vice president of Afghanistan and an ethnic Uzbek, also apologized to Ashraf Ghani.

The spokesman for the National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan, Bashir Ahmad Tahyanj, stated that “Ghani has a personal penchant for historical figures, honorable ethnicities, history and culture of the people residing in Afghanistan. He has done this before. However, the Afghan government palace defended Ghani’s comments in a statement, saying “what Ghani said about Timur was not offensive or insulting.”

Ashraf Ghani – Personal Life

Regarding his marital status, Ashraf is a married man. He married Rula Sadee, who was born into a Lebanese Christian family. They met while studying at the American University of Beirut in 1970. Their marriage took place in 1975. The couple is the father of two children, a daughter, Mariam Ghani, and a son, Tarek Ghani. Also, his daughter is a professional visual artist and his son is a foreign policy adviser.

Caption: Ashraf Ghani with his wife, Rula Source: NBC News

They eventually moved to the country and obtained citizenship there. But in order to participate in the 2009 Afghan elections, Ghani renounced his US citizenship. At his presidential inauguration in 2014, Ghani made the first gesture for an Afghan politician by publicly thanking her wife and referring to her by her Afghan name, Bibi Gul. He commented: “I want to thank Bibi Gul, my partner, for supporting me and Afghanistan. She has always supported Afghan women and I hope she will continue to do so.

After being diagnosed with cancer in the 1990s, Ghani lost most of his stomach. Ghani is supposed to get up before five in the morning and read for two or three hours.

Ashraf Ghani – Net Worth 2023

Ashraf has earned a large amount of money throughout his political career. He has a net worth of $5 million as of April 2023. He lives a luxurious and luxurious life with his family in the US.

social media

Reflecting on his social media presence, he is active on Facebook and Twitter. His ‘Ashraf Ghani’ Facebook account has more than 2.8 million followers till date. Furthermore, he joined Twitter in June 2009 and has earned more than 1.1 million followers on his ‘@ashrafghani’ account.

Ashraf Ghani – Body Measurements

In terms of his physical appearance, he has a fit and well-maintained body personality. She stands at a height of 5 feet 7 inches and weighs 72 kg. However, there are no details about her body size, dress size, waist size, etc. She has a pair of dark brown eyes and is a bald man with no hair. She is a man with a white beard.

Caption: Ashraf Ghani posing for a photoSource: Spiegel

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