Thursday, 16 February 2017

Dream of domestic development




I am not underestimating the stature or knowledge of any of those who occupied the position of a minister, especially in the field of domestic development… some of them are even friends of mine whom I do respect… however, it is my very own impression… I here talk about a coincidence that is very rare to happen in the life of nations… when responsibility is assigned to the one who can take good care of it… as the ministry of domestic development was assigned to Hisham el-Sherif… but who is Hisham el-Sherif?

In few words, he is the man who has a clear dream in his mind and conscience… also; he has the science, knowledge, expertise and will to turn this dream into a reality… I will not talk more about his upbringing, education, experience and manners; however, I will talk about the dream which I know el-Sherif is capable of planning, executing and following all its minute details.

The dream starts from the conformity of the ministry name with its mission; development… which is different to progress… such development known axiomatically to be initiated by the people and also reaching at the end to the people… as man became human only when he used his mind and senses; meaning by knowledge and culture…

Everyone knows now that any effort, achievement or institution can come to a dead end unless protected by an aware understanding qualified person who grasped the culture of his nation… in such regard, “domestic” exceeds the administrative definition of the word and becomes invulnerable to bureaucracy, corruption, fanaticism for a group, sect, doctrine or religion… domestic here means the final result of the comprehensive collective Egyptian civilization and cultural composition.

The dream is about turning the ministry from a “garage” for senior employees and directors, to a track where all efficient, talented, experienced people can compete… a place where all efforts, potentials and initiatives, that were long oppressed and fought against by short-mindedness and routine, can set off… that routine shutting doors before new blood, although it is always new blood that brings all good and welfare.

The dream is about employing the common areas between the domestic development and the rest of the ministries into real integration that empowers the positivity of work scientific distribution so that it can add to increasing the outcome… as there is no development without education or culture… and finally reaching to agriculture, industry, roads… to the rest of all that is necessary for the man to formulate his present and shape his future… the dream is about moving the initiative out from the offices where employees, by-laws, bonuses and signature books are… to hamlets, villages and small cities… to the public playing parks, youth clubs and wedding and ceremonial halls… to Mawaled nights, dervish rings, church halls and summer camps on the beaches.

The dream is that the people with all their classes and along with the aware elite bunch, go hand in hand with the government… provided that the people should have the upper hand… and hence all the supporting popular organizational forms that integrate with the municipalities and that are approved by the law, can come to existence… such organizational groups shall be working in parallel and not as an alternative to the municipalities… meaning they should include specialists, initiatives’ makers and experienced people.

The dream is that every child can have his breakfast before starting his school day… that child shall also find a desk to sit on and a playground, theater and garden to practice his hobbies… the dream is that every mother can find what helps her fulfill her motherhood on all aspects… and every father shall also find what helps him achieve his fatherhood fully.

It is a dream with tens of aspects and thousands scenes… the more aspects are fulfilled, the more we achieve the equation of accumulation and renovation that continue to exist as life itself does.

In my opinion, el-Sherif, who will lead the domestic development to achieve this dream, has all credentials of science, culture, knowledge, will and implementation experience needed to bring this dream into reality.

Moreover, I believe it is the opportunity that many people of science, culture, literature and art long aspired to… the opportunity of having an official who believes that changing the ugly reality and deteriorating circumstances will not be achieved but through culture and building the human who is aware and proud of his citizenship… and so Hisham el-Sherif will go everywhere and reach out for every Egyptian…

Finally, I would like to say that I wanted to continue writing about Mr. Heikal in the first anniversary since he left our world… this anniversary shall be tomorrow… last week, I excerpted what he wrote about the role of the individual in his nation’s life… however, the cabinet reshuffle and the assignment of Dr. Hisham el-Sherif as the minister of domestic development made me wrote the above lines… hoping I may continue writing what I started about Mr. Heikal – May he rest in peace – later.

Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar


This article was published in Al Ahram newspaper on February 16, 2017.

To see the original article, go to:


#alahram #ahmed_elgammal #hisham_elsherif #domestic_development #cabinet_reshuffle

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