7 - 13 February 2002
Issue No.572
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 7 - 13 February 2002 Issue No.572 |
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'Up to their necks'
Just two months ahead of their elections, local councils were slammed by MPs as hotbeds of corruption and an obstacle to democratisation. Gamal Essam El-Din reports
Zakaria Azmi, a leading MP of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) and President Hosni Mubarak's chief of staff, once charged local councils with being "knee-deep in corruption." Azmi's stinging criticism was voiced in parliament some years ago after the tragic collapse of an apartment building in east Cairo's Heliopolis district.
Zakaria Azmi
Early in November and following the inauguration of the new parliamentary session, Azmi told stunned MPs, "I think that local councils are now, not just knee-deep, but up to their necks in corruption."
On Sunday night, the People's Assembly's Local Administration Committee met to discuss an urgent parliamentary statement taking Cairo governorate's local council to task for failing to prevent Cairo's streets from being flooded during recent heavy rains. Delivered by Azmi before parliament on 21 January, the statement said, "It is unbelievable that just two days of heavy rains would submerge Egypt in a pool of water. Cairo traffic was stalled at crossroads and everyone was stuck in traffic jams."
Reopening the local councils corruption file, Azmi charged Cairo's city council with misappropriation of public funds. "The local development minister [Mustafa Abdel-Qader] sent me a letter last year saying that nearly LE125 million was allocated to upgrading Cairo's underground network of rain water drains. The minister said the network was so efficient Cairo would never be swamped again," he said.
Azmi described the minister's words as an "insult to our intelligence." -- not only because Cairo still lacks a proper water drainage network, but also because the spent sum was exaggerated, he said.
Azmi's war against local council corruption reached a crescendo on Saturday. The People's Assembly was reviewing a report prepared by the Central Auditing Agency (CAA) on the service and development funds of local councils nationwide. The money for these funds comes from fees charged against services provided by these councils and profits created by governorate-run productive projects. The councils are required by law to devote these funds to improving public services.
These funds' revenues from 1997 to 2000 totalled a hefty sum of LE1.6 billion. "Only 75 per cent of this was used by local councils, while the remaining amount was not put to any use," the report said.
MPs were shocked not only because the councils failed to make good use of a large sum of money at a time when public services in cities, towns and villages were in dire need of an upgrade, but by the fact that most of the spent money (about LE1.2 billion) was not directed to vital public projects. Azmi cited the report as saying that the Giza governorate's local council spent LE228,000 on buying flowers and greeting cards.
Encouraged by Azmi's relentless criticism, MPs belonging to both the NDP and opposition parties joined forces to ask for a wide-scale democratisation of local councils.
Kamal Ahmed, an independent MP for Alexandria, contended that the proliferation of financial irregularities in local councils was largely due to the lack of an effective supervision system of municipalities. "We have failed to take a single tangible step to stem the tide of corruption in this area," Ahmed said.
He argued that last month's legislative amendment, which limited judicial supervision on next April's local council elections, would worsen the financial and administrative conditions in municipalities. "The amendment will allow the same people who were charged by the CAA with spreading corruption to enter the councils. The law should be amended to bring these councils under strict supervision," he said.
In the meantime, the NDP, alongside other political forces, is gearing up for the forthcoming municipal elections. Scheduled for 8 April, the elections will see candidates vie for a staggering 49,820 seats on councils at the village, district and governorate levels. Kamal El-Shazli, minister of state for parliamentary affairs and the NDP's assistant secretary-general, revealed that almost 150,000 NDP members were competing to be the party's official candidates for these elections.
The number has sent shock waves in opposition circles. Noaman Gomaa, chairman of the liberal Wafd Party, warned that the NDP members' success in the elections was a foregone conclusion. El-Shazli, on the other hand, said that democratic elections were open to all candidates and that opposition and independent MPs were welcome to join the race.
Most opposition parties decided last week to contest the municipal elections, but on a limited scale. The outlawed Muslim Brotherhood is rumoured to be currently conducting secret deals with opposition parties to form alliances in these elections. Some Brotherhood MPs have also revealed their intention to file an appeal with the Supreme Administrative Court against last month's law limiting judicial supervision on municipal elections.
Zakaria Azmi, a leading MP of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) and President Hosni Mubarak's chief of staff, once charged local councils with being "knee-deep in corruption." Azmi's stinging criticism was voiced in parliament some years ago after the tragic collapse of an apartment building in east Cairo's Heliopolis district.
Early in November and following the inauguration of the new parliamentary session, Azmi told stunned MPs, "I think that local councils are now, not just knee-deep, but up to their necks in corruption."
On Sunday night, the People's Assembly's Local Administration Committee met to discuss an urgent parliamentary statement taking Cairo governorate's local council to task for failing to prevent Cairo's streets from being flooded during recent heavy rains. Delivered by Azmi before parliament on 21 January, the statement said, "It is unbelievable that just two days of heavy rains would submerge Egypt in a pool of water. Cairo traffic was stalled at crossroads and everyone was stuck in traffic jams."
Reopening the local councils corruption file, Azmi charged Cairo's city council with misappropriation of public funds. "The local development minister [Mustafa Abdel-Qader] sent me a letter last year saying that nearly LE125 million was allocated to upgrading Cairo's underground network of rain water drains. The minister said the network was so efficient Cairo would never be swamped again," he said.
Azmi described the minister's words as an "insult to our intelligence." -- not only because Cairo still lacks a proper water drainage network, but also because the spent sum was exaggerated, he said.
Azmi's war against local council corruption reached a crescendo on Saturday. The People's Assembly was reviewing a report prepared by the Central Auditing Agency (CAA) on the service and development funds of local councils nationwide. The money for these funds comes from fees charged against services provided by these councils and profits created by governorate-run productive projects. The councils are required by law to devote these funds to improving public services.
These funds' revenues from 1997 to 2000 totalled a hefty sum of LE1.6 billion. "Only 75 per cent of this was used by local councils, while the remaining amount was not put to any use," the report said.
MPs were shocked not only because the councils failed to make good use of a large sum of money at a time when public services in cities, towns and villages were in dire need of an upgrade, but by the fact that most of the spent money (about LE1.2 billion) was not directed to vital public projects. Azmi cited the report as saying that the Giza governorate's local council spent LE228,000 on buying flowers and greeting cards.
Encouraged by Azmi's relentless criticism, MPs belonging to both the NDP and opposition parties joined forces to ask for a wide-scale democratisation of local councils.
Kamal Ahmed, an independent MP for Alexandria, contended that the proliferation of financial irregularities in local councils was largely due to the lack of an effective supervision system of municipalities. "We have failed to take a single tangible step to stem the tide of corruption in this area," Ahmed said.
He argued that last month's legislative amendment, which limited judicial supervision on next April's local council elections, would worsen the financial and administrative conditions in municipalities. "The amendment will allow the same people who were charged by the CAA with spreading corruption to enter the councils. The law should be amended to bring these councils under strict supervision," he said.
In the meantime, the NDP, alongside other political forces, is gearing up for the forthcoming municipal elections. Scheduled for 8 April, the elections will see candidates vie for a staggering 49,820 seats on councils at the village, district and governorate levels. Kamal El-Shazli, minister of state for parliamentary affairs and the NDP's assistant secretary-general, revealed that almost 150,000 NDP members were competing to be the party's official candidates for these elections.
The number has sent shock waves in opposition circles. Noaman Gomaa, chairman of the liberal Wafd Party, warned that the NDP members' success in the elections was a foregone conclusion. El-Shazli, on the other hand, said that democratic elections were open to all candidates and that opposition and independent MPs were welcome to join the race.
Most opposition parties decided last week to contest the municipal elections, but on a limited scale. The outlawed Muslim Brotherhood is rumoured to be currently conducting secret deals with opposition parties to form alliances in these elections. Some Brotherhood MPs have also revealed their intention to file an appeal with the Supreme Administrative Court against last month's law limiting judicial supervision on municipal elections.
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