CAIRO - In Hosni Mubarak's Egypt, in the Arab world's political epicentre, corruption was like a law that couldn't be violated, despite the presence of many Government-run watchdogs. These bodies, headed by the General Authority for Administrative Surveillance (GAAS), presented reports about high-profile incidents of graft involving top governmental officials and business tycoons to the former President and his Prime Minister. These reports were either not read by the two top officials or shelved by some unknown persons, who wanted corruption to reach the very highest echelons. After the arrest of a score of ministers following the downfall of the Mubarak regime on February 11, the GAAS, which was revived by a republican decree of 1982, shocked millions of Egyptians when it blew the whistle on almost everyone who worked with Mubarak. Many Egyptians are, therefore, now wondering: What was the GAAS doing before the January 25 revolution and why it did not take action against the corrupt officials? GAAS officials have been defending themselves by saying that they always presented reports about certain top-shot officials and business magnates to the ex-President, demanding his permission to take legal action against them. "But the former President did not give us permission and the reports were either shelved or kept in his office," said an Authority official, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding that the watchdog was under the ousted President's direct supervision. He cited a mega-graft case involving ex-Housing Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Soleiman, who was accused of profiteering and the misuse of public funds, because he sold State-owned land to businessmen at very low prices. "The GAAS prepared a full report about this case and sent it to the President's Office. But Mubarak took no action against the Minister. Instead, he bestowed a medal on Soleiman because of 'everything he achieved' while in office," he continued. The unnamed official said that, although many competent officials and graft investigators ran the GAAS, originally established in 1964 by late President Gamal Abdel-Nasser, Mubarak neither read the reports nor bothered to take action against the corrupt ministers or businessmen, who were close friends of his family. Now that Mubarak has gone, the official wants a full investigation into cases of corruption that have cost the local economy billions of dollars, as he hopes to help lift millions of Egyptians out of poverty. “The money lost through corruption during Mubarak's 30-year rule would be quite enough to help the Government improve the lot of tens of millions of Egyptians struggling to survive,” stressed the official. He also wants to see the GAAS made independent of the President's Office, so it can have a free hand in fighting graft and promoting transparency in post-Mubarak Egypt.
