Same person hired in two ministries: Is the election campaign of Kalamujić and Mesihović being financed from the Budget of Sarajevo Canton!?

(Patria) - In the Register of service contracts, information can be found on contracts that institutions in Sarajevo Canton conclude with individuals, located on the website of the Sarajevo Canton Anti-Corruption Office.

The institutions themselves enter the service contracts into the Register, and while some regularly update the data, others have not yet publicly disclosed their contracts.

For example, the Ministry of Science, Higher Education and Youth, headed since November 15, 2023, by Adna Mesihović (For New Generations, founded by Damir Marjanović), has not entered contracts for 2023, even though it had engaged external associates, as confirmed by the Ministry itself in response to a parliamentary question from one of the representatives in the Sarajevo Canton Assembly.

The Patria News Agency previously reported that Mesihović engaged Arijana Turković under a service contract just five days after becoming minister. Turković was a candidate of the For New Generations movement in the 2022 General Elections.

In 2023, Turković was engaged from November 20 to December 20, 2023, for a fee of 1,200 KM, and according to data for 2024, her engagement continued, with her monthly fee increased to 1,500 KM from July this year.

The contractual obligations relate to the work of an external associate in the process of monitoring the implementation of projects under the Public Calls of the Ministry of Science, Higher Education and Youth of Sarajevo Canton and cooperation with the media. Thus, contracts for all nine months of this year can be found in the register. On several occasions, Turković sent press releases from Minister Mesihović to the media, bypassing the Protocol and Press Service of the Sarajevo Canton Government, which sends all announcements concerning the Sarajevo Canton Government and ministers to the media.

Mesihović also engaged Adis Grabovica under a service contract for the period from May 6 to June 17 for a fee of 2,400 KM, for video production and post-production of media content for promotional purposes.

What is particularly interesting is that Grabovica is also engaged in the Ministry of Finance of Sarajevo Canton, headed by another cadre of the For New Generations movement, Afan Kalamujić.

Grabovica is engaged for the period from September 11 to November 11 on tasks of preparing media content for promoting the work of the Ministry of Finance of Sarajevo Canton, and performing intellectual tasks in the Ministry of Finance of Sarajevo Canton. For these services, Grabovica will be paid 3,000 KM. Incidentally, press releases from this Ministry via the Press and Protocol Service are very rare, so it is unclear what kind of media content Grabovica is preparing. What can be seen on social networks is that Mesihović and Kalamujić have intensified certain visits, receptions for athletes, and gatherings with children, which are not exactly within the remits of these ministries.

Grabovica's engagement coincides with the election campaign, and Kalamujić is a candidate for municipal mayor of Novo Sarajevo. On his Facebook page, since the start of the campaign, a number of video contents have been posted, filmed in the area of this municipality, in which he talks about the problems of this municipality, while very little content relates partially or not at all to the Ministry of Finance of Sarajevo Canton.

Several well-informed individuals confirmed to Patria that Turković and Grabovica are in a close relationship, which we will not delve into, but it is symptomatic that their engagement in these two ministries coincides with the election campaign period.

The Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina should determine whether the money of two cantonal ministries is being spent on conducting the election campaign of two ministers during working hours, producing party spots, and monitoring party activities.

Minister Mesihović is also a candidate for the Municipal Council of Novi Grad Sarajevo on the list of For New Generations – Platform for Progress, while Kalamujić is registered under Platform for Progress, given that For New Generations had a problem with signatures.