In its annual report, Transparency International placed Afghanistan amongst the top most corrupt countries in the world, putting it in the company of countries like Somalia and North Korea.
Transparency International indicated rampant corruption in Afghanistan was especially troubling given that the NATO coalition is set to depart Afghanistan by the end of next year.
The good governance watchdog said that it seemed the Western alliance had failed to quash runaway corruption in Afghanistan, which has persistently grown over the years since aid money first began flooding in after the 2001 invasion.
"The West has not only invested in security but also in trying to establish the rule of law," a Transparency official named Heinrich said. "But there have been surveys in the last couple of years showing the share of people paying bribes is still one of the highest in the world."
Transparency International investigated corruption in at least 177 countries for its annual report. Its findings suggest corruption is primarily an issue facing poor countries concentrated in Asia, Africa and South America.
In the report, Denmark, Finland and Sweden were declared the countries where corruption was the most rare.
The Afghan High Office of Oversight & Anti-Corruption has suggested that the Transparency International report was unreliable.
"The report has no scientific basis, it only says that Afghanistan is on top of corrupt countries and exists in the 3rd category," an official from the Oversight office who asked not to be named said.
"The statistics of non-governmental organizations aren't acceptable and we strongly reject this report...we have official statistics, and the evidence we have assessed shows that corruption has declined in the country."