Enemy of the masses

At the beginning of the ‘80s, I managed, along with my wife, to save a sum of money in order to buy a flat in Nasr City after we had worked for four years in a Gulf country… she is a physician and I am a journalist.

I remember the “high-level delegation” accompanying me in order to meet the owner of the buildings and her assistant; the mechanic boy whose title became “Bashmohandes” or engineer… and who, in turn, became an owner of several buildings… that woman, who was known by al-Hajja[1], along with another woman were the magnates of selling apartments in Nasr City and Heliopolis before that famous tycoon of Nasr City appeared.

They were all professional in violating laws of construction… whether regarding heights allowed or the percentage of the building area to the whole area… I thank God for I and my family survived death under the rubbles of Heliopolis’ building that collapsed during the 1992 earthquake… as al-Hajja offered in the beginning to the “high-level delegation” that came to mediate for me to give me an apartment in “Hollopolos” building… that’s how she used to pronounce Heliopolis… the price offered was 85 thousand pounds while Abbass al-Aqqad building apartment costed 40 thousand pounds.

That was the very beginning for practicing bullying against the state, its laws, institutions, and authorities… when that amoral cooperation between a certain kind of capital and corrupt people in some official entities took place… to the degree that made that woman’s son during the heated argument we had over the grave violations they made in the building say to me in front of the respected people present: “what law, Mister?... I can build a building tomorrow in the middle of the garden lying in the heart of Abbass al-Aqqad Street”.

It all started in those dark days when those who violated all that is legal and lawful went on their way until crimes of buildings’ violations became the norm… and the ironic exception is to adhere to the law’s regulations and conditions… I still remember that day when a huge building in Abbass al-Aqqad Street collapsed over its inhabitants and the crowded market lying in the first floor… I remember when then-Cairo governor Dr. Abdelrahim Shehata said that all Nasr City buildings were prone to collapsing… as cement, steel bars, and necessary specifications for construction were all violating the standard criteria.

Starting from that time and place; meaning in the upper-class neighborhoods in the time of Infitah and its peak during the eighties… until here in our present time as we live in this state of horrible bullying practiced against the state’s lands and property… against the river, its territory and what comes out of it… against the sea and its shores… we all live a tragedy of behavioral, cultural, and civilization deterioration… that is not committed by the poor and ignorant alone… but also by others belonging to the educated rich of high social classes and perhaps occupying prestigious positions.

In such regard, I may go back in time to what may be entrenched for many reasons in the negative side of the Egyptian character… as those who come from the countryside – like me – know those many who dare to eat out parts of the road, the river Nile banks, main, medium, and small water channels… and who feel no shame to shovel the boundaries of the cemetery area… and even steal the irrigation water from the neighbor who runs the water pump or water wheel… etc., all these practices that I will detail in the coming lines.

As to the road, it starts with a width of 20 meters… then at the end of harvesting a crop and planting another, owners of the fields overlooking the road start to plow, till, and level their fields as a preparation for planning, irrigating, and planting it… then you see axes and plows starting to eat out several centimeters from the road edge… year after year, these centimeters become quarters of meters… and the road shrinks from one wide enough to allow the side-by-side passing of two tractors into a twisting narrow one hardly wide enough for a buffalo or donkey to pass… and they all start their mission after they perform Fajr prayers and before sunrise; meaning before the authority, represented in the agricultural cooperative, village chief, and guards, wake up… and before the road gets busy with people including those who have relatively far fields but this road is the only way to reach their fields… problems and quarrels usually happen because of this… then the iron marks defining the road width are put… but how easy it is for many to transfer “ar-Ragma”; the stiff rock separating between fields and outlining the beginning and ending of each neighbor’s property…

Also, how easy it is to steal the irrigation water either from the state by opening the water locks at night and bribing those who guard them or steal it from the neighbors… as the one stealing makes a hole in the muddy barrier blocking the water channel leading to his field during his neighbor’s turn in irrigation… the muddy barrier looks standing while water is easily passing through it but not easily noticed unless the neighbor goes into the water channel and discovers the hole.

Not to mention the pleasure of stealing the ripe ready-to-be-grilled “corncobs” and hiding the stealth by uprooting the whole corn stalk and filling its place and not only snatching the “corncob” and leaving the stalk erecting so that the field owner does not notice the crime…

And when winter comes and there is not enough dry rubble to put under the cattle feet in barns… the one stealing goes to the cemetery usually erecting since old times over a hill so that water does not reach it during flooding… then he uses his axe to cut the edges of the hill even if his axe unearthed his ancestors’ bones… there are many more cases of practicing aggression over others’ property… whether that other was the state or people.

Now, we find ourselves in a dilemma that many long wrote about… that is the serious leader, who loves his country and is keen to protect its people, is sometimes regarded as acting in the opposite side of what people want… since people, in times of deterioration and cultural and political decline, get used to and even master practicing all that hinder the institutional work, law regulations, and fundamentals of comprehensive development… in times when individual solution becomes the answer to individual salvation even if on the expense of others and against the law and norm… also interpretation of the religious doctrine is distorted in order for this misleading twisted interpretation to provide the ethical cover for the crime.

And when things change and someone leads the society into its collective salvation in an institutional and scientific manner… then he will definitely turn into an enemy of the people… and those fishing in the troubled waters will start targeting the nastiest feelings of human beings; that is the feeling of individual salvation over the expense of the state and society in general.

I guess the message is delivered.

Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar

This article was published in Al Ahram newspaper on July 20, 2017.

To see the original article, go to:

http://ahmadelgammal.blogspot.com.eg/2017/07/blog-post_19.html

#alahram #ahmed_elgammal #Egypt #fighting_corruption

---

[1] Title meaning that this woman performed the religious obligation of pilgrimage or Hajj.

Publish lists and details

I wish people in charge of regaining state lands can publish, along with the number of feddans, kirats[1], ashom[2] and square meters, the names of those gentlemen who practiced “adverse possession” over these lands. This “adverse possession” term is the nickname for looting, robbery, stealing, greed, opportunism… to the rest of the same kind characters… now dear reader, you have the right to ask me mocking: why then do you call them gentlemen?... I quickly answer: because the list that was leaked out or published includes names whom I long met some of and shake hands while standing, sometimes nod my head a little, or use words like Mr. or Your excellency!!

This kind of humans possess “outstanding” qualities that are not provided in others like us of the very common people whose best wishes is to sustain their basic needs and pay back their debts… of those “extraordinary” qualities, their ability to quickly switch from one table to another, especially those tables of ruling and authority… also wearing the right mask over their faces according to the character required; meaning that if they are required to look powerful, tyrant and authoritarian, they frown, raise the tip of their eyebrows and glare at you with fire-firing eyes… and if they are required to look humble, philanthropic and kind to the poor, they relaxed their eyelids and batted calmly over you… and so on in every field… but as to their strongest characters, it is their dead heart, dealing with “difficulties” and punishing anyone who may imagine he can stand in their way even with a word… exactly like big professional gangsters do.

I wish those lists can be published in details including the name, nickname, age, social status, network of kins and in-laws, nature of activity, starting date of this activity along with the social level that they had when they started and the wealth they then had, then record of the accumulation history of this wealth, and how disciplined they are in their commitment to meet their obligations and duties towards the state and society.

The secret lying behind providing all these data is that the society should know how spread and deep this corruption and collusion is in the time span extending from 1967 to date… I say 1967 because it is the date president Sisi has already hinted at as the start of disintegration of the state power and authority… also so that all people can practically know what happened and how did it happen from 1967 to 1970… from 1970 to 1981… from 1981 to 2011… from 2011 to 2013… and from 2013 until our present time.

I affirm I am not about to talk about the time from 1967 to 1970; meaning from 1967 defeat… war of attrition… and death of Nasser… despite I have what to say… however, I – and many others – are seeking the truth away from forging or fear.

Those culprits who stole, looted and made enormous fortunes are not only those who stole the lands… but along with them are the employees and those in positions of responsibility who colluded with them and made it easier for them to steal… those too made fortunes out of corruption.

Just to remind you, the collective memory of our society has and will never drop two famous sayings for two presidents… first of them was Sadat who said: “Egypt became expensive… meter square in downtown Cairo is now sold for 700 pounds”… the second was Mubarak who used to ask the question “is his alibi ready or not?” whenever he was told that so-and-so is accused of corruption.

Now I move from what I think are details to what I believe is the main issue; that is the nature and dimensions of the fight Egypt is going through right now under the leadership of president Abdel-Fattah as-Sisi… especially that I write those lines while I am following the opening ceremony of the project of the new furniture city in Damietta… and the massive efforts exerted by armed forces men and others of Egypt’s sons who keep working day and night.

The main issue is the response to the challenge of existence… again I repeat… our very own existence… biological… social… cultural and civilization existence of the Egyptian people… such response became clear, continuing and promising to achieve victory… because the armed terrorism that kills and destroys in the name of God is not the only one threatening the Egyptian existence on all those levels… as our biological existence as living creatures became threatened by deadly diseases that evolved from Schistosomiasis and others to kidney and liver failure, killing viruses, road accidents, quality of food… also our social, civilization and cultural existence became threatened by unemployment, slum areas, family breakdown and ugliness that spread everywhere… not to mention illiteracy of different levels, ignorance, collapse of educational and health services… and other problems.

Unfortunately – or one may say it is the tragedy that we alone are dogged by – those who looted the country and stole its very fundamental assets; land… and also escaped fulfilling the state rights – I won’t say their social and ethical duties that are inseparable of the Islamic or Christian faiths – are the spear head in this dangerous terrorism… as such kind of terrorism has the same target of the armed terrorism; meaning to undermine and destroy the Egyptian state… in my opinion, this is not an easy fight… actually, it is more difficult that the fight against armed terrorism as the armed forces and police will not be able to adopt the same techniques they have towards gangs of extremism… and any media or cultural entity will not be able to stand against the war of rumors, defamation, forging the truth and messing with the people awareness that makes use of the economic circumstances.

We can imagine how devastating it is when those working relentlessly day and night and who do what no one else can do in the specified time scope and quality find themselves surrounded by an atmosphere filled with skepticism, defamation, forged truth and false damaging criticism.

Actually, I, like other, do not claim to have the quick successful prescription that determines how to face this horrible crime except using the tools we have in our hands to serve our role in such fight… working hard to connect spots of resistant action on all levels and orientations… and praying for God to help our country achieve more and more.

We shall continue talking later about what seems to be campaigns related to the issue of democracy and coming presidential elections while in my opinion they are related to what is more comprehensive and dangerous.

Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar

This article was published in Al Ahram newspaper on May 25, 2017.

To see the original article, go to:

http://ahmadelgammal.blogspot.com.eg/2017/05/blog-post_25.html

#alahram #ahmed_elgammal #Egypt #fighting_corruption

---

[1] Kirats: (Arabic: قراريط, plural of قيراط) it is approximately equal to 175 m^2.

[2] Ashom: (Arabic: أسهم, plural of سهم) it is approximately equal to 7.29 m².

Fighting corruption

Someone, whom I trust his story, his sagginess, good intention and his jealousy over his country, talked to me about the Egyptian foreign affairs’ work and how it is pointless right now and that there are no clear targets with specific tasks within time schedules.

This rule applies to all diplomats and those working in embassies and delegations associated to other ministries and authorities like intelligences, ministries of interior, education, culture, commerce and even sermonizing and religious guidance… however, that man noted that there have been an exception as they recently were assigned a specific task; that is exerting endeavored efforts to regain Egypt’s long-time role in the African continent and the African Union… and indeed, the mission was well accomplished because the target was known and mission was clear.

In the same session, another man talked to me about some incidents that may seem to be individual actions however he believes they represent an approach adopted by many whom Egypt was cursed to have as its representatives abroad… he recounted a story of an ambassador who used to serve his duty abroad in Western Europe and the United States until he was transferred to Africa… that was when he got furiously mad and interpreted his indignation into extremely inappropriate and mean behavior… for example, he ordered the air-conditioning system be left operating day and night during the weekends so they he can find his office cool when he comes back…

Another one turned the embassy’s swimming pool into a ducks’ breeding place… a third was trading in the offspring of the dogs living in the embassy where people of that foreign country and others come to buy the distinguished puppy bread… A forth was determined not to spend a dollar of his salary and it happened once that he was invited to dinner in another Arab embassy and after finishing eating he went to the hosting ambassador’s wife to ask her for a collection of dishes for his son as he didn’t attend the dinner… and so the lady scolded him severely…

In the same context, I heard about the articles of the bylaw preventing acquisition lease… that is the embassy may rent a building or a place for a certain sum of money… which is the same money that can be paid on installments to buy the place… or that money needed for renting a building for the embassy exceeds what can be paid to buy another building more spacious, modern and comfortable because the former is not for acquisition…

Another situation is that the embassy may need to paint its building… meaning that they only need to hire some house painters… but what really happens is that a committee associated to the buildings’ authority in the ministry goes to examine and make a bid so that some may “qualify” for the “house painting” task… in the end, the money paid to paint the building exceeds what is needed to buy a completely new one!

Also, there are those administrative employees; whether females or males, who has an educational degree not exceeding the average diploma and who are assigned to deal with elite Egyptian scientists of university professors and PhD and higher degrees awarded experts; meaning they have submitted researches qualifying them for the professorship level… then comes the employee with the average diploma to deal with them in a very mean way…

Moreover, you find teachers sent by al-Azhar for example to teach French-only -speaking students while the teacher knows nothing about French language but it was only due to nepotism or his turn to be sent abroad… to the extent that some of our embassies in the African continent witnessed native students’ protests refusing such teachers…

This conversation I had with the two men, who were generous enough to talk openly, started by discussing the national campaign to donate to Egypt known as “Sabah ala Masr be Geneah” or “Donate a pound everyday to Egypt”… I said I am one of those committed, most of the time and not always, to donate everyday… the swift reply came exclaiming: “and why do not those officials working in the diplomatic delegations donate some of the millions of dollars spent aimlessly without planning?”

we also talked about serious issues like the one regarding the mission target of those working in all fields, especially those in the diplomatic circle representing Egypt abroad… we also talked about the goals and plans outlining our foreign policy even on the microscopic level… As it’s not logical or accepted that employees working in a big or small embassy or even a limited representative delegation do not know their mission exactly and the philosophy of the Egyptian foreign policy in that place of the world… including the comprehensive general philosophy in this phase of the international situation and politics.

Some may say that goals are clear… atop of them is that we do not interfere in others’ affairs and not seek leadership or a role exceeding our abilities… this is good, however we cannot define things by negation… like we cannot say that water is not fire and not mass…etc… it’s also known that philosophy and goals of the foreign policy are defined by the presidency and not any other institution or party.

I know it’s difficult to re-qualify those who reached the degree of ambassador to realize that they are entitled to a role that should be reflected on their way of thinking, behavior and job tasks… starting from realizing how big and important it is to represent a country like Egypt along with its rich civilization, culture, history and role in the world… and not ending by saving every penny and pound not to be wasted aimlessly… however, it’s not difficult to put the right official in the right place and time… also, it’s not difficult to hold everyone accountable for whether they have fulfilled their job tasks or not.

In addition, it’s not forbidden to discuss the issue of the number of our embassies, delegations and representatives abroad… and decide whether we can decrease that number because many countries, which do not suffer what we do of lack of resources especially in foreign currency, have worked on decreasing their delegations’ number of employees to save resources where a single embassy can do the job of representing the state in many neighboring countries…

Such conduct does not contradict with the necessity that Egypt should have an effective role in the international arena so that others do not occupy our place… in my opinion, if such spirit, philosophy and specific clear tasks are provided, then a single official can do the job of hundred lacking such things…

We have already witnessed before, and may until this moment, how our precious Egyptian history in Africa for example was squandered… and how others were able to fill the space we left behind when we used to have many embassies spreading all over the black continent…

I don’t want to go on narrating striking cases that are sorrowful and disgusting in the same time… where officials in different agencies or ministries exchange mutual interests… and so one prevents reports written about the performance or situation in a certain place in exchange for his son or son-in-law be appointed in a first-class embassy; meaning away from hot countries and kept in this place as long as his powerful connected relative is in charge!

I wrote all the above out of feeling jealous over my country while I still support and believe in the June 30^th revolution… and before this, I still believe in our national standards that are not for bargain or change…

We will keep donating everyday to our beloved country… not only donating money, but also spreading awareness, working, exerting efforts, fighting for reform and standing strong in the war against terrorism… we will not remain silent against corruption that may hide but we know is eating away the nations’ main structure while we are busy going through those fights.

Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar

This article was published in Al Ahram newspaper on July 28, 2016.

To see the original article, go to:

http://ahmadelgammal.blogspot.com.eg/2016/07/blog-post_28.html

#alahram #ahmed_elgammal #Egypt #corruption #foreign_ministry