The government's campaign slogan against corruption - screenshot from the YouTube ad
“Hello my dear, go ahead, like Baba.” Then he spoke on the phone, saying, “His Excellency the Basha Lea I have a small request with you. One of my beloved ones I want to work with your Excellencies in the authority, the pasha, but that is simple. ”This is the content of one of the government's anti-mediation announcements, which began to be broadcast on a number of television channels with the beginning of the month of Ramadan, as part of an advertising campaign to educate government employees not to use their position to facilitate procedures in a way illegal.
The anti-corruption advertising campaign included 4 ads, which were awareness of the mediation process in obtaining a job, awareness of the bureaucracy within government agencies, shaky hands, and awareness of bribery in customs.
Anti-corruption activists say that the advertising campaigns implemented by the government to eradicate corruption will not be of any benefit and "cost to the free" because they were not part of an integrated program or plan to eliminate corruption.
The strugglers add that tightening supervision and facilitating procedures for citizens to obtain their government services while developing the work system, along with advertising campaigns, eliminate corruption.
According to an annual report by Transparency International - issued last January - Egypt ## ranks 88th out of 168 countries in the fight against corruption. A monthly report - issued last May by the same organization - stated that ## Egypt is among the eight countries in which corruption has increased over the past year.
Safwat Al-Alam, a professor of advertising at the Faculty of Media, Cairo University, says that the advertising campaigns that the government broadcasts on a number of satellite channels to fight corruption are "corruption in question."
The world adds, to Egyptian Voices, that the anti-corruption advertising campaign does not communicate the purpose of the advertisement to the public, especially since the campaign seeks to urge the treatment and correction of existing corruption that can be corrected by regulatory authorities better than advertising and quickly.
The world stressed that state agencies have a monitoring role that would eliminate corruption, and when an integrated system is applied to eliminate corruption, advertising campaigns can be used.
Yasser Hassan, the executive partner of one of the advertising companies, says that the price of a minute or second in the advertisement is calculated according to the advertiser's request, so there will be a price map and channels that are shown to the advertiser before starting the implementation.
Hassan added, to Egyptian Voices, that the price map and channels are updated every period, for example the price of advertisement varies from channel to another and the time of advertisement broadcast from one program to another, indicating the high price of one minute of advertising during Ramadan compared to the rest of the year.
Hassan explains that the price per minute can range between 5,000 and 50,000 pounds, "This is controlled by the viewership rates on the channels and programs, and the amount may increase according to the requirements of the advertisement and the advertiser itself."
Dr. Ahmed Saqr - representative of Transparency International in Egypt - said that the advertising campaigns broadcast by the government on a number of satellite channels to combat corruption or abuse of power by public servants "will not have a strong impact on those who corrupt to review their consciences."
Saqr added, to Egyptian Voices, that "there are oversight loopholes that allow misuse of power and profiteering from it, and if those gaps are not filled, the situation will remain as it is in terms of corruption, profitability and bureaucracy."
He added that these loopholes lead to a bifurcation of corruption, and bureaucracy leads to disrupting the interests of the citizen, which forces him to pay a bribe to the competent employee to facilitate and expedite the completion of the procedures, in addition to not activating the monitoring of government institutions in a serious and decisive manner.
Saqr explained that the advertising campaign launched by the government during the month of Ramadan to combat corruption is nothing but a loss of money without return, in addition to being satisfactory to the government side that undertook the campaign's work, which makes it convinced all the time that it is thus eliminating corruption.
Saqr asserted that anti-corruption advertising campaigns have a great role and actual return if they are within an integrated system aimed at eliminating corruption and the corrupt.
He adds that the complete system to eliminate corruption must include improving employee wages, simplifying procedures for citizens to obtain service easily without the need to pay bribes, activating legal accountability, and a balance between authority and responsibility.
Mahmoud Radwan - the founder of the Lawyers Against Corruption Movement - says that it is not possible to eliminate and fight corruption with awareness campaigns, and to eliminate corruption requires the launch of monitoring campaigns from time to time.
Radwan adds, to Egyptian Voices, that the text of Article 103 of the Penal Code related to combating corruption must be applied, which states that “every public official who demands for himself or for others, or accepts or takes a promise or a gift to perform a work of his job, is considered corrupt and punishable by imprisonment. Life or a fine of not less than a thousand pounds and not more than what was given or promised.
Radwan added that the advertising campaigns that the government is implementing to combat corruption will not be of any benefit, and the government must monitor the progress of work and remove obstacles for citizens who pay bribes to facilitate service or get a job.
He adds that if the government facilitates the citizen's access to government services quickly and well, the citizen will not pay bribes to the employee, which leads to the elimination of corruption in addition to the application of strict control. Http://goo.gl/B3t1PP