There have been 22 cases of corruption involving state officials and institutions in the first year of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s presidential term, the non-governmental Partners for Transparency Foundation (PFT) said in a report issued on 13 June.

The cases involve state ministries, local municipalities, public corporations and officials investigated or arrested by the administrative prosecution authorities and public funds authorities, in more than 10 governorates.

Many of those cited in the report are involved bribes and waste of public funds, with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Tourism, Culture and Education coming top of the list.

“Corruption and absence of transparency pushed the people to rebel against the regime of Hosni Mubarak, and the lack of real will to fight corruption were major reasons for the people to rise again against Mohamed Morsi. Therefore, there is wide public belief that the issue is the main obstacle to any development in the past few years,” PFT stated.

Through an analysis of Al-Sisi’s speech in relation to corruption, the legislative measures adopted to fight it, the corruption crimes detected during his time and the handling of state authorities of corruption cases, PFT concluded that there was a gap between theoretical and practical aspects of corruption.

Despite stating that Al-Sisi was well aware of the effects of corruption on Egypt’s business and investment climate, PFT found that legislative measures by Al-Sisi were ineffective to counter corruption and minor in comparison to his “strong political speech”.

The report recommended the formation of a national experts committee, and to study all existing and proposed legislation to combat corruption. It also outlined the need to provide an integrated legislative vision to amend and issue them directly after the formation of the new parliament. The report also demanded that top priority be given to amend the laws governing regulatory bodies stipulated in the constitution, to guarantee their independence and activate their role.

The PFT is an independent registered foundation directed by Dr Walaa Gad, working in a political and social framework focused on values and practices of integrity, transparency and accountability.Daily News