[3] In 2008, he came to the United States to study at the University of Illinois as a Fulbright Scholar.

[3] Payenda became deputy finance minister in 2016, and was aligned with a group of young officials who supported government reform and efforts to combat endemic corruption in Afghanistan.

[3] As finance minister, he confronted an illegal "customs" station outside Kandahar operated by Afghan police who were siphoning money from the government; the police threatened Payenda at gunpoint.

After leaving Afghanistan, Payenda fled to the United States, where, as of spring 2022, he co-taught a course at Georgetown University and worked in the Washington, D.C., area as an Uber driver.

[3] Payenda is married and has four children, and lives in Woodbridge, Virginia.