Eng. Ghulam Mohmmad Farhad

Engineer  Ghulam Mohammad Farhad was born in 1901 in  Ibrahim  Khel,  Maidan,  He was the son of  Haji Said Ahmad Khan  Farhad.  He  belonged  to  Yusofzai  family  who  came  to Kabul from  Maidan in 1915. His mother tongue was Pashto. He adopted Farhad as his family name.

Engineer Ghulam Mohammad Farhad was educated  at  Habibia  High   School    and  was in the first group of students sent by King  Amanullah Khan   to  Germany  in  1921  for   further education. He Studied Electrical Engineering at the Technishe University of Munich. He returned to Afghanistan in 1928.

He  worked   as a  teacher at Nejat School in Kabul. Later he became in-charge of the Electro Technical  Department,   Manish   Khana.   He  also   worked  as  Director  of  the  Electricity Department in Kabul in 1934. He worked in Ministry of Public works as well.

In 1934,  Engineer   Ghulam  Mohammad  Farhad  was  sent  to   Germany   to  purchase  the equipment  for the Chak-i-Wardak Electrical Plant. From 1939 to 1966, he was the President of   Electric  Company  (Shirkat-e-Barq)  in  Kabul. In 1947, he went to Germany to purchase equipment for the first Sarobi Electric Plant.

Farhad  Sahib  was  elected  as  Mayor  of  Kabul; he worked from 1948 to 1954 as Mayor of Kabul. He built the first Major Street  in  the  old  city  of  Kabul,  Jad-e-Maiwand,  relocating displaced citizies.  He  changed   the  traffic  from  the  British  to  right-hand driving in Kabul, which was then followed throughout Afghanistan. He set up the first traffic lights in Kabul. He ended his tenure as Mayor in 1954, but continued as President  of  the Electric Company until 1966. Engineer Ghulam Mohammad Farhad was the member of Loya Jigra (The Great Council) that adopted the new Constitution in 1964.

On March 8 1966, he found the  Afghan  Mellat  Party (Afghan Social  Democratic Party). He was the founder and the first  president  of  the  party.   He  was  also    the first  Publisher  of Afghan Mellat   Newspaper    from   April  1966   to   May  1967.   In 1968,  he   became   the  member  of parliament (Kabul  6^th District).  He   was  Anti  communist.   He   resigned  from  Parliament  in 1970.

He   was  arrested  by  the   communist regime   on October 14, 1979 and accused of being the leader of a plot against the Khalqi regime the  freed in early 1980. He died in Kabul, 1984 (15, Aqrab 1363) God bless him.