CAIRO - The uprising that started on January 25 against corruption, oppression and one-party dominance has already borne fruit, as far as results on the ground indicate. One such gain, according to observers, is the opening of files that reveal the abuse of power. They had previously been sealed and the protests of honest men ignored. Now the Prosecutor General is investigating the cases of the three exministers Habib el-Adly, Zoheir Garranah and Ahmed el-Maghrabi, who were in charge of the Interior, Tourism and Housing portfolios respectively. Together with Ahmed Ezz, iron and steel tycoon and former liaison officer of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), they are banned from travelling and their bank accounts have been frozen. Garranah and Maghrabi were originally businessmen, required to quit running their private businesses when taking the oath, in order to prevent a conflict of private and public interests. The Nazif Cabinet of 2005 included other businessmen who were thought to be capable of running State affairs competently. However, a scenario of conflicting interests started to unfold gradually, and despite insinuations of corrupt deals here and there, the ruling elite turned a blind eye. The former Interior minister Habib el-Adly is a different case; he is held responsible for the destruction of public and private property on January 28, following the security vacuum created by the sudden withdrawal of the police on that fateful day. According to Al-Shorouq independent daily, President Mubarak informed el-Adly of his decision to assign the Army to take control of the streets, much to the dismay of el-Adly. The independent Paper quoted sources stating that el-Adly walked out of his office on that day and went to State Security headquarters next door. But a few hours later, the presidential Office ordered him to return to the Interior Ministry. It was too late; in the absence of law and order thugs and members of angry mobs had set fire to public buildings, mainly police stations, the NDP premises and courts. Supermarkets and shops were looted, people on the streets and in their homes got intimidated. The same sources say that the value of real estate Ahmed el-Maghrabi laid hands on in the course of five years is worth more than LEl00 billion. It is reported that Maghrabi founded a company back in 2003 when he was Minister of Tourism in the first Nazif Cabinet. When the Housing Ministry was assigned to him two years later, he gave his company access to vast areas of land at very low prices, enabling it to become the third-largest real estate company in Egypt. Maghrabi is now facing accusations of acquiring money illegally, profiteering, making business deals by taking advantage of his official post, and therefore breaching article 58 of the Constitution. Palm Hills, a joint venture between Maghrabi and Mansour (Minister of Transport in the first Nazif Cabinet), is these days involved in 32 projects in highly promising areas across the country. As for Garranah, he is facing charges of squandering public funds. Preliminary investigations reveal that the former minister, whose family is in the travel business, exempted 500 tourism companies from paying licence fees, depriving the State coffers of LE1 billion, according to a judicial source. Supervisory reports also speak of millions of square metres of Stateowned land in Red Sea and Sharm el-Sheikh areas, sold to his companies at prices far lower than their market value. Garranah's fortune is estimated at LEl0 billion. Ahmed Ezz was delegated by the NDP leadership to steer the 2005 and 20l0 elections. He committed cardinal mistakes that resulted in an unprecedented opposition-free Parliament. He is also accused of monopoly practices, whereby his companies controlled 66 per cent of the reinbar market, although the law states that the limit is 25 per cent. The Consumer Protection Agency, affiliated to the Ministry of Trade, released a report over a year ago, confirming his monopoly. Ezz is also facing the charge of purchasing the Government-run company el- Dekheila Steel for an extremely low price, although as a member of Parliament he was supposed to stay clear of such suspicious deals. According to reports already in the Prosecution General's possession, Ezz made skyrocketing gains, raising the profits of his company EZZ Steel from LE 180 million in January 2005 to LE 2.2 billion in September of the same year.
