Ghani cabinet

President Ashraf Ghani's cabinet was the cabinet of Afghanistan from 29 September 2014 until 15 August 2021.

First tenure cabinet formation (2014–2020)

November 2014 – January 2015: Replacement of former Karzai ministers

After the International Conference on Afghanistan in London, on 11 December 2014 Ghani announced that the rest of the former Karzai cabinet was substituted by their deputies.

Ministry	Name of candidate	Time of takeover
Foreign Affairs	Atiqullah Atifmal	11 December 2014
[Ministry of Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan)\|Finance (Afghanistan)\|Finance]	Mohammad Mustafa Mastoor	11 December 2014
Commerce and Industry	Mozammil Shinwari	11 December 2014
Women’s Affairs	Sayeda Mujgan Mustafawi	11 December 2014

January – March 2015: First round of nominees

All acting ministers who were not replaced by a permanent minister stayed in office.

Ministry	Name of candidate	Affiliation	Time of takeover
[Ministry of Ministry of Interior Affairs (Afghanistan)\|Interior Affairs (Afghanistan)\|Interior Affairs]	Nur ul-Haq Ulumi	pro–Abdullah	1 February 2015
Foreign Affairs	Salahuddin Rabbani	pro–Abdullah	1 February 2015
Finance	Eklil Ahmad Hakimi	pro–Ghani	1 February 2015
Public Health	Ferozuddin Feroz	pro–Abdullah	1 February 2015
Mines and Petroleum	Daud Shah Saba	pro–Ghani	1 February 2015
Rural Rehabilitation and Development	Nasir Ahmad Durrani	pro–Abdullah	1 February 2015
Refugees	Alami Balkhi	pro–Abdullah	1 February 2015
Haj and Religious Endowments	Faiz Mohammad Osmani	pro–Ghani	1 February 2015
NDS	Rahmatullah Nabil	pro–Ghani pro-Karzai	was already in office as acting director
[Ministry of Ministry of Higher Education (Afghanistan)\|Higher Education (Afghanistan)\|Higher Education]	Bari Sediqi	unknown	after 17 March 2015

July 2015 – November 2016: Some cabinet changes and a full cabinet after two years

Since late 2015, many ministers came into doubt by the parliament due to accusations of corruption and professional ineffectiveness. On 2 November 2015, Interior Minister Nur ul-Haq Ulumi escaped the parliament's no-confidence vote because of not reaching a two-thirds majority, as did Communications and IT Minister Abdul Razaq Wahidi on 4 January 2016. On 13 July 2016, Women's Affairs Minister Delbar Nazari narrowly stood in power after a vote of confidence.

Ministry	Name of minister	Affiliation	Time of vote	Result
Interior	Nur ul-Haq Ulumi	pro–Abdullah	2 November 2015	approved
Communications and IT	Abdul Razaq Wahidi	pro–Abdullah	4 January 2016	approved
Women's Affairs	Delbar Nazari	pro–Abdullah	13 July 2016	approved

November 2016: Votes of confidence in parliament leads to seven dismissals

In November 2016, a series of votes of confidences were held in the Wolesi Jirga. All in all, seven ministers were sacked due to allegations of shortcomings in their performance and their failure to spend all allocated budgetary funds on time while further six ministers were accused too on but got the vote of confidence. First on 12 November, these were Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani, Public Works Minister Mahmoud Baligh and the Minister for Martyrs, Disabled, Labor and Social Affairs Nasrin Oryakhil. On 13 November, the dismissals of Education Minister Assadullah Hanif Balkhi and Transportation and Civil Aviation Minister Mohammadullah Batash followed. On 14 November, Higher Education Minister Farida Momand was unseated, and on 15 November, Communications and IT Minister Abdul Razaq Wahidi was also dismissed by the parliament. However, since 12 November, President Ghani asked the dismissed ministers to continue their job until the Supreme Court makes a final decision. On 16 November further three ministers were voted confident by parliament.

Ministry	Name of minister	Affiliation	Time of vote	Result
Foreign Affairs	Salahuddin Rabbani	pro–Abdullah	12 November 2016	rejected
[Ministry of Ministry of Public Works (Afghanistan)\|Public Works (Afghanistan)\|Public Works]	Mahmoud Baligh	pro–Ghani	12 November 2016	rejected
Labour, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled	Nasrin Oryakhil	pro–Ghani	12 November 2016	rejected
Finance	Eklil Ahmad Hakimi	pro–Ghani	13 November 2016	approved
Education	Assadullah Hanif Balkhi	pro–Abdullah	13 November 2016	rejected
Transportation and Civil Aviation	Mohammadullah Batash	pro-Ghani pro-Dostum	13 November 2016	rejected
Justice	Abdul Basir Anwar	pro–Abdullah	14 November 2016	approved
Higher Education	Farida Momand	pro–Ghani	14 November 2016	rejected
[Ministry of Ministry of Urban Development and Housing (Afghanistan)\|Urban Development and Housing (Afghanistan)\|Urban Development]	Sadat Mansoor Naderi	pro–Ghani	14 November 2016	approved
Communications and IT	Abdul Razaq Wahidi	pro–Abdullah	15 November 2016	rejected
Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock	Assadullah Zamir	pro–Ghani	15 November 2016	approved
Counter Narcotics	Salamat Azimi	pro–Ghani	15 November 2016	approved
Energy and Water	Ali Ahmad Osmani	pro–Abdullah	15 November 2016	approved
Refugees	Alami Balkhi	pro–Abdullah	16 November 2016	approved
[Ministry of Ministry of Economy (Afghanistan)\|Economy (Afghanistan)\|Economy]	Abdul Sattar Murad	pro–Abdullah	16 November 2016	approved
Public Health	Ferozuddin Feroz	pro–Abdullah	16 November 2016	approved

December 2017: Votes of confidence in parliament for acting ministers

No candidates were presented for the ministries of Foreign Affairs, [Ministry of Ministry of Information and Culture (Afghanistan)|Information and Culture (Afghanistan)|Information and Culture] and Education.

Ministry	Name of minister	Affiliation	Result	Time of takeover
Interior	Wais Ahmad Barmak	unknown	approved	4 December 2017
Borders and Tribal Affairs	Gul Agha Sherzai	pro–Ghani	approved	4 December 2017
Public Works	Yama Yari	pro–Ghani	approved	4 December 2017
Economy	Mohammad Mustafa Mastoor	pro–Abdullah	approved	4 December 2017
Transportation and Civil Aviation	Mohammad Hamid Tahmasi	pro–Ghani	approved	4 December 2017
Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock	Nasir Ahmad Durrani	pro–Abdullah	approved	4 December 2017
[Ministry of Ministry of Defense (Afghanistan)\|Defense (Afghanistan)\|Defence]	Tariq Shah Bahramee	pro-Ghani	approved	4 December 2017
Rural Rehabilitation and Development	Mujib Rahman Karimi	unknown	approved	4 December 2017
Labour, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled	Faizullah Zaki	pro-Ghani pro-Dostum	approved	4 December 2017
Higher Education	Najibullah Khwaja Omari	pro–Ghani	approved	4 December 2017
Communications and IT	Shahzad Gul Aryoubi	unknown	approved	4 December 2017
Mines and Petroleum	Nargis Nehan	unknown	rejected	4 December 2017

January 2018 – March 2020: More cabinet fluctuation

On 27 January 2019, Ghani issued a decree to merge the Ministry of Counter Narcotics with the Ministry of Interior, and on 19 February 2020, he issued a decree splitting the Ministry of Water and Energy into the separate independent authorities of the National Water Affairs Regulation Authority and the Authority for the Regulation of Energy Services. Before the 2019 presidential election, there had been 15 acting ministers, including those dealing with security.

Second tenure cabinet formation (2020–2021)

March – October 2020: New cabinet nominees and acting ministers after Ghani's inauguration

Despite the parallel inauguration of Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani as presidents on 9 March 2020 and the subsequent uncertainty and threat of a parallel government, Ghani in his inauguration speech said he would postpone cabinet appointments for two weeks to allow for the necessary opportunity for cooperation and alignment with all prominent political factions involved in the election. In practice, he started the following appointments almost three weeks after the inauguration. Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal and Haneef Atmar were nominated as Finance and Foreign Affairs Minister respectively and started in their positions in an acting role in early April, while also approving Ahmad Zia Saraj in his role als head of NDS and Tahir Zuhair nominating as Information and Culture Minister but who only started acting on 9 June 2020. Ghani also nominated Mohammad Shakir Kargar as chief of staff and Fazal Mahmood Fazli as General Director of the Office of Administrative Affairs as cabinet members. Further nominations of cabinet posts were delayed. Until 2 June 2020, Hasina Safi, Ahmad Jawed Osmani, Mahmud Karzai and Ajmal Ahmady were also introduced as acting Women's Affairs, Public Health and Urban Development Minister and Governor of the Central Bank respectively, followed by the nominations of Rangina Hamidi as Education and Haroon Chakhansuri as Mines and Petroleum Minister and other cabinet posts until 14 June 2020. All cabinet posts up to this point were appointed by Ghani's camp.
On 17 May, Ghani and Abdullah signed a power-sharing agreement. The agreement stipulates that Abdullah will introduce candidates for half the cabinet posts, including for some key ministries, and that provincial governors will be appointed based on an agreed rule. On 9 July, Abdullah introduced a list of cabinet nominees to Ghani: Massoud Andarabi for Interior Affairs, Fazel Ahmed Manawi for Justice, Bashir Ahmad Tahyanj for Labor and Social Affairs, Noor Rahman Akhlaqi for Refugees and Repatriation, Abas Basir for Transport and Civil Aviation, Sadat Mansoor Naderi for Economy, Anwar ul-Haq Ahady for Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, Kanishka Turkistani for Higher Education, Mohibullah Samim for Borders and Tribal Affairs, Nisar Ahmad Ghoryani for Commerce and Industry and Masooma Khawari for Communications and Information Technology, and Najib Aqa Fahim for the State Ministry for Martyrs and Disabled and Mohammad Mustafa Mastoor for the State Ministry for Peace. Other news outlets named fewer or more ministries allocated to Abdullah while a lot more were still up to discussion. No appointments were made by the Abdullah camp by early August 2020, but rather Ghani re-nominated the already acting Assadullah Khalid and Massoud Andarabi for the key ministries of Defense and Interior, although it was reported that this was a joined decision by both Ghani and Abdullah, at least in the case of Andarabi as the Minister of Interior. In late July it was reported that Ghani had rejected five ministerial candidates due to various reasons. During all this time, the ministries without new nominations were still headed by the previous ministers and acting ministers.
On 31 August 2020, the Administrative Office of the President announced that nine ministers and one state minister had been appointed by Abdullah who immediately started in an acting role. These minister nominees have largely been the same as those from his introduction on 9 July, with the exception of Kanishka Turkestani who was replaced by Abas Basir as nominee for the Ministry of Higher Education, who in turn was replaced by Qudratullah Zaki as nominee for the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation. Also, Mastoor was reintroduced as Minister of Economy instead of being nominated for the State Ministry for Peace. This role went to Sadat Mansoor Naderi who earlier was actually nominated as Minister of Economy. Najib Aqa Fahim and Azizullah Ariafar have not been nominated for their intended role of State Minister for Martyrs and Disabled and Director General of the Independent Commission for Administrative Reform and Civil Service. The appointed ministers have been officially introduced at the Presidential Palace on 15 September 2020.

Ministry	Name of minister	Affiliation	Time of takeover
Finance	Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal	pro-Ghani	31 March 2020
NDS	Ahmad Zia Saraj	pro-Ghani	1 April 2020
Mayor of Kabul	Mohammad Daoud Sultanzoy	pro-Ghani	1 April 2020
Chief of staff	Muhammad Shakir Kargar	pro-Ghani	2 April 2020
Foreign Affairs	Haneef Atmar	pro-Ghani	4 April 2020
Administrative Affairs	Fazal Mahmood Fazli	pro-Ghani	9 April 2020
Disaster Management	Ghulam Bahauddin Jilani	pro-Ghani	13 May 2020
Parliamentary Affairs	Zia ul-Haq Amarkhil	pro-Ghani	13 May 2020
Women's Affairs	Hasina Safi	pro-Ghani	18 May 2020
Good Governance	Nur ul-Haq Ulumi	pro-Ghani	19 May 2020
Public Health	Ahmad Jawed Osmani	pro-Ghani	31 May 2020
Urban Development	Mahmud Karzai	pro-Ghani	1 June 2020
Central Bank	Ajmal Ahmady	pro-Ghani	3 June 2020
Information and Culture	Tahir Zuhair	pro-Ghani	9 June 2020
Education	Rangina Hamidi	pro-Ghani	10 June 2020
Mines and Petroleum	Haroon Chakhansuri	pro-Ghani	11 June 2020
Public Works	Mohammad Yama Shams	pro-Ghani	16 June 2020
Public Works	Najibullah Yamin	pro-Ghani	6 October 2020
Local Governance	Shamim Khan Katawazai	pro-Ghani	18 June 2020
Defence	Assadullah Khalid	pro-Ghani	18 July 2020
Interior	Massoud Andarabi	pro-Abdullah	18 July 2020
Hajj and Religious Affairs	Mohammad Qasim Halimi	pro-Ghani	6 August 2020
Rural Rehabilitation and Development	Mujib Rahman Karimi	pro-Ghani	17 August 2020
Labour and Social Affairs	Bashir Ahmad Tahyanj	pro-Abdullah	31 August 2020
Commerce and Industry	Nisar Ahmad Ghoryani	pro-Abdullah	31 August 2020
Transport and Civil Aviation	Qudratullah Zaki	pro-Abdullah	31 August 2020
Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock	Anwar ul-Haq Ahady	pro-Abdullah	31 August 2020
Communications and IT	Masooma Khawari	pro-Abdullah	31 August 2020
Borders and Tribal Affairs	Mohibullah Samim	pro-Abdullah	31 August 2020
Justice	Fazel Ahmed Manawi	pro-Abdullah	31 August 2020
Refugees and Repatriation	Noor Rahman Akhlaqi	pro-Abdullah	31 August 2020
Higher Education	Abas Basir	pro-Abdullah	31 August 2020
Economy	Mohammad Mustafa Mastoor	pro–Abdullah	31 August 2020
Economy	Karima Hamed Faryabi	pro–Abdullah	14 September 2020
Peace	Sadat Mansoor Naderi	unknown	3 September 2020

November – December 2020: Votes of confidence in the parliament

On 13 October 2020 it was announced that the nominated ministers will be introduced to the Wolesi Jirga on 20 October before a vote of confidence can be held. 24 ministers were eventually introduced to the lower house of parliament. The first round of votes was held on 21 November 2020, were ten nominees were approved. The second round was held on 30 November, with 6 approvals and two rejections. This was followed up by a third round on 2 December where three nominees were approved and three were rejected. The oath of office, however, was only taken on 4 February 2021, over two months after the votes of confidence were taken, what sparked criticism.

Ministry	Name of minister	Affiliation	Time of vote	Result
Finance	Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal	pro-Ghani	21 November 2020	approved
Foreign Affairs	Haneef Atmar	pro-Ghani	21 November 2020	approved
Defence	Assadullah Khalid	pro-Ghani	21 November 2020	approved
Interior	Massoud Andarabi	pro-Abdullah	21 November 2020	approved
Hajj and Religious Affairs	Mohammad Qasim Halimi	pro-Ghani	21 November 2020	approved
Labour and Social Affairs	Bashir Ahmad Tahyanj	pro-Abdullah	21 November 2020	approved
Commerce and Industry	Nisar Ahmad Ghoryani	pro-Abdullah	21 November 2020	approved
Communications and IT	Masooma Khawari	pro-Abdullah	21 November 2020	approved
Justice	Fazel Ahmed Manawi	pro-Abdullah	21 November 2020	approved
Higher Education	Abas Basir	pro-Abdullah	21 November 2020	approved
NDS	Ahmad Zia Saraj	pro-Ghani	30 November 2020	approved
Women's Affairs	Hasina Safi	pro-Ghani	30 November 2020	rejected
Urban Development	Mahmud Karzai	pro-Ghani	30 November 2020	approved
Information and Culture	Tahir Zuhair	pro-Ghani	30 November 2020	rejected
Mines and Petroleum	Haroon Chakhansuri	pro-Ghani	30 November 2020	approved
Public Works	Najibullah Yamin	pro-Ghani	30 November 2020	approved
Transport and Civil Aviation	Qudratullah Zaki	pro-Abdullah	30 November 2020	approved
Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock	Anwar ul-Haq Ahady	pro-Abdullah	30 November 2020	approved
Refugees and Repatriation	Noor Rahman Akhlaqi	pro-Abdullah	30 November 2020	approved
Public Health	Ahmad Jawed Osmani	pro-Ghani	2 December 2020	approved
Central Bank	Ajmal Ahmady	pro-Ghani	2 December 2020	rejected
Education	Rangina Hamidi	pro-Ghani	2 December 2020	rejected
Rural Rehabilitation and Development	Mujib Rahman Karimi	pro-Ghani	2 December 2020	rejected
Borders and Tribal Affairs	Mohibullah Samim	pro-Abdullah	2 December 2020	approved
Economy	Karima Hamed Faryabi	pro–Abdullah	2 December 2020	approved

December 2020 – September 2021: Cabinet changes until the collapse of the government

The five rejected nominees stayed in power as "supervisors" or acting ministers in their respective ministry. After the number rose to eight officials being in an acting role by April 2021, the Wolesi Jirga demanded new appointees for the ministries. When the Taliban seized control on Kabul and announced the reestablishment of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan on 15 August 2021, almost all cabinet members either resigned or fled the country. The last minister of the Islamic Republic, Wahid Majrooh, was removed by the new de facto regime on 22 September 2021.

Timeline

2014

21 September: Afghan presidential contenders Ghani and Abdullah sign unity deal
1 October: Decree that ministers of the second Karzai cabinet stay in power as acting ministers
11 October: Ghani's first days begin with hope
17 October: Afghan leaders face headwinds as they form cabinet
27 November: Ghani and Abdullah agree on 17 out of 25 ministers
29 November: Afghan president dismisses most of his ministers, replaced by deputy ministers
9 December: Ghani and Abdullah cannot decide on a cabinet
11 December: Ghani substitutes the rest of the former cabinet
23 December: Afghan cabinet still not appointed

2015

2 January: Unclear who is in charge
8 January: No cabinet in sight
9 January: Taliban reject offer of Afghan government posts
12 January: Afghan cabinet announced, with 12 being from Abdullah
18 January: Agriculture Minister wanted by Interpol
19 January: New setbacks
20 January: Afghan cabinet introduced to parliament for approval
21 January: Parliament rejects cabinet nominees over dual citizenship
28 January: 9 Ministers endorsed
2 February: Partial cabinet starts work
21 March: New cabinet nominees announced
23 March: Cabinet nominees not introduced to parliament yet
1 April: 16 ministers introduced to parliament
6 April: Afzal Ludin nominated as Defense Minister
8 April: Ludin withdrew from nomination
18 April: Parliament approves cabinet nominees, Cabinet nearly complete
19 April: Habibi nominated as Defense Minister but never introduced to cabinet
21 April: 16 members sworn in
21 May: Masoom Stanekzai nominated as Defense Minister
4 July: Stanekzai rejected but stood in office as in the role of acting minister assumed on 24 May
8 July: Sediq approved as Central Bank governor
September: still no permanent Minister of Defense
10 December: Nabil resigned as chief of NDS
11 December: Massoud Andarabi pronounced acting chief of NDS

2016

4 January: Communications and IT Minister Wahidi gets vote of confidence
6 February: Ulumi resigns as Interior Minister
24 February: Jahed nominated as Interior Minister, started acting
28 March: Saba resigns as Mines Minister, leaves void for over a year
8 April: Jahed confirmed
9 April: No end for power-sharing in government
5 May: Ghani moves Stanekzai from Defense Ministry to NDS
20 June: NDS chief and Defense minister approved, first full cabinet in two years
13 July: Votes of confidence on ministers
16 October: Borders Minister Mangal taking new role as governor
7 November: Jahani steps down as Information and Culture Minister
12 – 16 November: 7 cabinet members unseated
15 November: Ghani instructs ministers to continue their duties
25 December: uncleared status of the dismissed ministers as they continue their work
29 December: Still no ruling over dismissed ministers

2017

2 January: Communications Minister Wahidi suspended
8 January: Sadat named acting Communications Minister
17 – 20 April: Zia Massoud dismissed as Special Representative and Farooq Wardak appointed as Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs
26 April: Acting Defense Minister Bahrami introduced
25 May: Accusations of violation of cabinet law
26 May: Liwal appointed acting Border Minister
26 May: Still seven acting ministers with vote of no confidence
25 July: New nominees for cabinet positions
7 August: Three new cabinet changes
13 August: Ghani nominates Wais Barmak as Minister of Interior and Taj Mohammad Jahid as Security Adviser. The appointments are awaiting a vote of confidence from parliament
21 September: 2 acting ministers appointed
13 November: MPs question NUG’s credibility because of vacant cabinet posts
4 December: Parliament fills in ministerial posts, eleven minister candidates received votes of confidence

2018

9 June: Ghani fires Energy Minister, sparking criticism by Abdullah
13 June: Naderi resigns as Urban Development Minister
26 June: Ahmadi steps down as Minister
25 August: Ghani calls security council to step down, Atmar does so
26 August: Ghai rejects resignations of ministers
23 December: Ghani appoints new ministers to the ministries of interior and defence. Amrullah Saleh and Asadullah Khalid

2019

11 February: Andarabi new acting Interior Minister
27 May: Abdullah not aware of recent cabinet appointments
10 June: Many acting officials
27 July: Ghani dissolves High Peace Council Secretariat
5 September: Stanekzai resigns as head of NDS

2020

29 January: Appointment of Foreign Minister illegal says Abdullah
7 March: Ghani chairs cabinet meeting
9 March: Both Ghani and Abdullah inaugurated as president, threats of two governments
31 March: Arghandiwal appointed as acting Finance Minister
3 April: Ghani proposes Abdullah to be head of Peace Council after threats of forming a parallel government
4 April: Ghani has made a number of changes in government posts
5 April: Ghani halts cabinet formation
8 April: Ghani welcomes new acting ministers
9 April: Fazal Mahmood Fazli appointed as head of the administrative office of the president
7 May: Possible power-sharing deal
15 May: Agreement details published
17 May: Ghani and Abdullah sign power-sharing deal
2 June: Appointing new cabinet prioritised as there are still cabinet members to appoint
13 June: Slow progress on new cabinet
20 July: Rift between Ghani and Abdullah over cabinet picks
5 August: No full government
12 August: Still division because of cabinet appointments
15 September: Ghani asks new nominee ministries to prioritize accountability
13 October: Ghani to introduce Cabinet picks soon
21 October: 24- or 25-member cabinet introduced to parliament
21 November: First round of vote: 10 nominees approved
30 November: Second round of vote: 6 ministers get vote of confidence
2 December: Third round of vote: Wolesi Jirga approves 3 of 5 ministers and now has confirmed 20 out of 25 cabinet nominees
31 December: Health Minister Usmani sacked for bribe allegations

2021

23 January: Arghandiwal removed as Finance Minister
24 January: Further cabinet clearing
31 January: 17 ministers assume office without taking oath
4 February: New ministers take oath of office
19 March: New Security ministers appointed by Ghani, angering Abdullah
24 March: Ministry of Finance not functioning properly
1 April: Ghani agrees to formation of interim government
26 April: Parliament criticizes government for having too many acting ministers
19 June: Ghani sacks ministers
10 August: Acting Finance Minister Payinda leaves country, later resigns
22 September: Taliban sack last Ghani cabinet minister

Further read

after 18 July 2018
before 19 January 2021