Yousef Pashtun
He served as Minister of Urban Development and Housing for two terms (2002–2003, 2005–2010) and as Governor of Kandahar province in 2003, replacing Gul Agha Sherzai under President Hamid Karzai's administration.
His father, Brigadier Mohammad Ghani Khan, served as Corps Commander of Eastern and afterwards Northern Zone of Afghanistan.
His maternal grandfather Haji Gul Muhammad Khan was an active politician and key figure in Southern Afghanistan's political leadership.
He started to provide humanitarian aid to the Mujahideen and also founded a Hospital for free treatment of Afghans affected by the war.
After the Soviet withdrawal he was proposed so many posts in the Afghan Mujahideen's Government but he refused and continued with his task of reinstating the Former King of Afghanistan Mohammad Zahir Shah.
He lived in exile in Quetta, in Pakistan where he worked to reinstate the previous king of Afghanistan, Zahir Shah.
He has also worked in the executive committee of Loya Jirga under the command of Mohammad Zahir Shah (The father of the Nation and former King of Afghanistan).
International Community was also interested to work with him for the rehabilitation of Kandahar as he was an experienced Urban plan with technical expertise.
Yousef Pashtun tried to enhance the development projects in Kandahar which created more job opportunities for the locals, leading to the stabilization of the region.
In 2004 after the start of Republic Government of Afghanistan, he returned to Kabul resuming his role as Minister of Urban Development and Housing.
Soon, as a top priority, the initiative turned into one of the biggest commercially viable national development project of the country, expected to be led by the private sector.
Pashtun leads different National Technical Committees for Construction, Urban Development, Public Works, Mines, Transportation, Water & Energy.
Minister Pashtun was also a prominent candidate for the post of Director General, UN-Habitat representing South Asian Countries in 2010.
Some political analysts highlights his transfer from Minister to Senior Adviser to president as a move to keep him more involved in this fight against land mafia.
