Egyptian ACA arrests employees over bribery charges

CAIRO – 18 April 2018: Egypt’s Administrative Control Authority (ACA) – the regulatory body responsible for enforcing laws and regulations within state institutions – arrested on Wednesday an employee affiliated to the Ministry of Electricity and another one from the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority (EMRA) over bribery charges.

The employee from the Ministry of Electricity was arrested for receiving a bribe from a citizen to install electricity meters, while the second one received a bribe from the owner of a private company working in the export field in exchange for facilitating export procedures.

In the same context, the Cairo Criminal Court ruled on February 28 to sentence former Helwan Governor Hazem el-Qowaidi to five years in prison and a fine of LE 50,000 ($2,823) for receiving bribes as governor.

Also in late of January, Menoufia Governor Hesham Abdel Baset and two businessmen in Sadat City were arrested over charges of corruption.

Bribery and corruption have been rife in Egypt for decades and were one of the main causes of the 2011 uprising that toppled long-time President Hosni Mubarak.

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi always stressed on applying strict measures within government institutions to crack down on any violations. He hailed the role played by the ACA on different occasions.

The ACA’s efforts have been very fruitful in recent years, having prosecuted several high-profile cases, which led to a noticeable decline in incidents of corruption.

In April 2016, the Cairo Criminal Court sent former Agriculture Minister Salah el-Din Mahmoud Helal and his office manager to 10 years in prison each on corruption charges.

The prosecution said in a court session that Helal and his office manager had accepted bribes, including a luxury home, membership at an exclusive sports club, clothing from high-end fashion stores and mobile phones.

In January 2017, former State Council Secretary-General Wael Shalaby committed suicide while in custody after being arrested for alleged corruption.

This incident came days after a procurement manager at the State Council, Gamal al-Laban, was arrested and charged with receiving bribes worth millions of Egyptian pounds.