A few years ago, Sayed Ahmad Shah Sadaat was a minister in the Afghanistan government. But now, the Oxford graduate works as a food delivery man in Leipzig, Germany. Sadaat is actually quite content about it.
Born in Afghanistan, Sadaat left the country together with his family. At Oxford, he studied electrical engineering. In 2016, when he visited Afghanistan, President Ashraf Ghani offered him a ministerial post. Though he would earn a lot less in Afghanistan, Sadaat took up the offer as he wished to do something for his country. He was eventually appointed as a minister of information and communications.
To expand network coverage, Sadaat wanted to launch a satellite. However, his plans fell apart when it became clear that the Taliban was gaining ground. People in the Ghani government began siphoning off funds from the state treasury. These officials then slammed corruption allegations on Sadaat, forcing him to resign in 2018. Last December, Sadaat immigrated to Germany.
In a career spanning 23 years, Sadaat worked with 20 companies in 13 nations. But in his present hometown of Leipzig, the former minister has started delivering food to people.
“I feel safe here, I’m not a rich man anymore, but I enjoy the job and the money is enough to live on,” he told the German paper Bild.
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Some of his family members criticized Sadaat for taking up such a job after having been a government minister. But Sadaat says he has “nothing to feel guilty about.” For him, a job is a job. “I hope other politicians also follow the same path, working with the public rather than just hiding,” Sadaat told Reuters.
Sadaat also carries British citizenship. He chose to live in Germany because he thinks the country has a greater economic future; it will play a leading role in the IT and telecommunications industry, where his expertise lies. Sadaat had hoped to find work in these sectors given his experience. Because he could not speak German, the ex-minister found it hard to get hired.
Sadaat now juggles six hours of delivering meals with four hours learning German at a language school. As to what is happening currently in his country, Sadaat is unhappy about the developments. “The world must now stand by the side of the Afghan people. Otherwise the problems there will also become our problem here in Germany,” Sadaat stated.
While Sadaat is living an honest life, the man who offered him the ministerial post in Afghanistan, former President Ashraf Ghani, barely escaped the country amidst the Taliban takeover. Ghani reportedly fled with $169 million in cash stuffed in suitcases that he took to the UAE. Mohammad Zahir Aghbar, Afghanistan’s ambassador to Tajikistan, has asked the international police to arrest Ghani on charges of embezzlement.
