Partners for Transparency, a non-profit organisation that aims to counter corruption, released on Saturday its annual report, which estimated that 1,102 cases of corruption have occurred in different ministries and governmental offices over the past 12 months.
PFT reported that the largest share of corruption took place within the Ministry of Supply where there were 215 incidents, followed by municipalities with 127 incidents, the Ministry of Health with 97, and the Ministry of Agriculture with 88 cases. Further, it reported 76 incidents of corruption in the Ministry of Interior. The Ministry of Education witnessed 59 incidents and 49 were found in the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry of Housing recorded the lowest number of cases with 36 incidents.
In the past year, corruption in institutions revealed Egypt’s “weak” laws that desperately needed reform in the fight against these wide-spread cases of corruption, as well as the apparent urgent need to widen the scope of power, achieve independence, and raise the efficiency of institutions. These were all addressed in the 2014 Constitution, but have not been implemented yet.
According to the PFT report, Egypt lacked both legislative and procedural steps over the past year due to the delay in forming a parliament. Thus, the parliament failed to discuss laws that addressed corruption. PFT also stated that when specialised committees were being formed, parliament rejected a proposal to form a committee for corruption.
Notably, the report acknowledged the role of the Administration Control Authority (ACA), which has arrested several senior officials in corruption cases. It is evident that regulatory authorities are supported by the state in various fields and a technical committee was assigned to assess the projects implemented by the state.
Moreover, the report pointed out the state’s willingness to counter corruption which can be seen in speeches and statements by the president, ministers, and other officials.
Of the 1,102 corruption cases, 728 are under investigation, while 173 have been presented to a court. A total of 5% of the cases have been closed and 14% discarded without investigation.
