Egypt to Launch Fight against Corruption in Two Weeks: Government Committee

Egypt plans to implement a nationwide strategy to fight corruption in two weeks, the country’s anti-corruption committee said on Sunday during a meeting with the prime minister, according to Al-Ahram’s Arabic news website.

The plan will adopt internationally tried and tested methods to fight corruption, said the members of Egypt’s Supreme National Committee Against Corruption (SNCAC), according to Al-Ahram.

The committee is comprised of several judicial bodies including the Administrative Control Authority, the Central Auditing Agency, the Administrative Prosecution, the General Prosecution and other state supervisory bodies.

The committee also presented steps taken to open branches in Egyptian governorates for offices tasked with receiving corruption complaints.

Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab instructed the committee to give high priority to combating customs evasion at Egyptian ports as well as encroachment on state land and the unauthorised use and transfer of electric current – a rampant practice in Egypt.

The premier stressed the importance of trying to settle with investors who’ve encroached on state land before prosecuting them.

During the meeting – which also included representatives from the ministries of foreign affairs, local development and planning – SNCAC representatives said they would present tallies of such land and urged quicker verdicts of land cases in litigation.

Egypt’s current and previous constitutions stipulated the formation of an anti-corruption body.

Egypt was ranked “highly corrupt” in Transparency International’s 2013 Corruption Perceptions Index. Top officials and associates of ousted president Hosni Mubarak’s regime are currently facing trial on corruption charges, with many including Mubarak himself having been convicted.

Source: Ahram Online