According to a story by the Washington Post, former Afghanistan finance minister Khalid Payenda, who previously presented a $6 billion budget in Kabul, is now working as an Uber driver in Washington DC, to support his family.
Payenda is a part-time instructor at Georgetown University as well.
The minister stated that while he was appreciative of the chance to provide for his family, “I have nowhere to go at the moment. I don’t belong either place—here or there. It’s a terribly void sensation “.
According to Payenda’s statement to The Washington Post, the Americans are to blame for the Taliban’s occupation of Afghanistan. In August 2021, the US withdrew from Afghanistan after two decades of fighting.
Before the Taliban took over Afghanistan, in February 2020, the administration of then-President Donald Trump committed to a conditional peace agreement with the terrorist organisation in exchange for a 14-month withdrawal of US forces. Notably, the Aghan administration was left out of the accord.
One week prior to the Taliban taking over Kabul, Payenda resigned from his position as finance minister as his relationship with Ghani worsened. He went to America, where he was reunited with his family, out of fear that the president may imprison him.
