Why Did Canada Pay a Mysterious Man in Afghanistan $100k in 2016?
In 2016, Global Affairs Canada recorded a payment of $100,085 to “Zahidullah Hamdard,” located in Kabul, Afghanistan. This information can be found in Volume 3, Section 6 of the 2016 Public Accounts of Canada.
The transaction was thought to be unusual by Coastal Front, given the fact that it was apparently made to an individual rather than an NGO, non-profit organization, or any other entity. Following research into Zahidullah Hamdard, Coastal Front found no tangible digital footprint on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, or any other social media website that linked the money to a Zahidullah Hamdard. Coastal Front also checked the Canadian government’s Open Government database and found no mentions of Zahidullah Hamdard in its records for contracts over $10,000, grants, or any other search engine that allows the public to view government spending disclosures.
Afghan Mystery Man Located?
The only item Coastal Front found that could, in theory, reasonably connect the payment is an article done by Polio Free Afghanistan (PFA) in February 2025, where it profiled a resident of the Paktiakot area in Kabul named Zahidullah Hamdard. Hamdard, 30 years of age according to the article, purportedly worked as a polio vaccine team supervisor for the last 11 years. Coastal Front reached out to PFA and they confirmed that the article was indeed written and released this year. This would make him a polio vaccine advocate when the transfer was made in 2016. Coastal Front also found drawings for an Afghanistan water reservoir and supply network project prepared by a “Zahid Ullah Hamdard” in the same province of Paktiakot but was unable to confirm if this is the same Hamdard.
But that asks another question? Why did Global Affairs Canada make a payment seemingly directly to him and not his organization? More importantly, again assuming the Hamdard profiled by PFA is the same Hamdard, why to a polio vaccine team supervisor who was in their early 20s at the time of payment? The 2016 total median income for persons not in an economic family in Canada was $37,000. The 2015 median gross annual earnings for a college graduate, most in their early 20s like Hamdard, was $56,000. An income of $100,085 was more money than most occupations in the Canadian economy made on average in 2016.
Coastal Front reached out to Global Affairs Canada to confirm this transaction. Global Affairs said the following: “Due to concerns about the safety of project staff and beneficiaries, since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan on August 15th 2021, Global Affairs Canada is unable to confirm or disclose information regarding individuals involved in delivering international assistance projects funded by Canada in Afghanistan. This decision has been made in close consultation with our partners in Afghanistan.”
Transaction Prompts Concerns About Fiscal Responsibility
While the goal of protecting Afghan citizens who helped the government of Canada from Taliban reprisal is admirable, the lack of disclosure regarding this payment raises questions of accountability and transparency, particularly since this payment seemingly does not deal with national security. There are also questions of how the Canadian government could assess if the money was used properly since it was possibly given to a single individual in a country oceans and deserts away from Canadian jurisdiction.
With budget deficits, high crime, rising homelessness, and Canadians seeing a bleak economic future, one has to ask if the cash could’ve gone somewhere here in Canada.
