YOUNG Egyptians, desperate for years to find lucrative jobs, overcome their embarrassment at their plight, when they win the confidence of civil servants, who are reluctant to do their job unless they are bribed. Accordingly, these young men are allowed to hang out at overcrowded governmental offices and traffic police departments, where they can hook baffled citizens and offer to help them in accomplishing their errands effortlessly and quickly. The fixer traditionally accomplishes the task in hand after an hour or two of disappearing into the offices, which would exhaust the citizen's time and efforts for weeks or even months. The bribery gains are divided between the fixers and civil servants. Corrupt civil servants feel safe as long as they are not in direct contact with fuming citizens standing outside their office. According to the deal, a driving licence, which would officially cost no more than LE100, including duty stamps, would cost the citizen LE 500 or slightly more if he or she does not want to be tested by the traffic police officers. By the help of these fixers prowling around traffic police departments, anyone who does not know how to reverse the car or use the flasher, for example, would conveniently obtain the driving licence without showing their face to the examiners. In the meantime, unfortunate applicants confident of their skills in driving will have a cross against their names as failed and ordered to make a new attempt after three months. Building licences also cost their owners several thousands Egyptian pounds more than the official price; otherwise they would spend months begging civil servants to honestly commit themselves to their obligations. A fixer in his 30s said proudly that he was investing in his experience in easing bureaucratic measures in governmental offices. “Citizens reward me appreciatively after they realise how much time and effort they have saved in the place,” he confided, while hunting down clients at a governmental office in Cairo. The young man, who identified himself as Salem, added: “I know how to persuade civil servants in their offices to relax and sign documents and official papers laid on their desks. Money is the keyword for persuading civil servants to be co-operative.” Salem usually goes home daily with his pockets stuffed with LE 200. He would get more if he stumbled on a larger number of indignant citizens confused by the time-honoured red-tape measures. Salem, who is a university graduate said that many of his peers are doing the same job at different governmental offices. Civil servants defiantly refuse to regard money they receive under the counter as bribery. According to the old story, it is the meagre wage, which compels civil servants to explore different ways to augment their incomes and support their families. A civil servant went so far in his defence of his action as to say: “Affluent citizens pay us money to express their sympathy with our financial problems.” The civil servant, who preferred to remain anonymous, also identified the under-the-counter money as part of the mechanism of social interdependence in the society. “Our wages are the lowest,” the unnamed civil servant said. “Everybody, including our bosses, knows this fact beyond doubt.” Moreover, he strongly claimed that their bosses were pretty sure that they were bribed to run their official task. “Unable to increase our wages, these bosses implicitly encourage us to have our own channels in this regard,” he said.
