Egypt Country Profile

Public Anti-Corruption Initiatives

  • Legislation: Egypt ratified the UN Convention against Corruption in 2005, but is not party to either the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention or the AU Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption. Egypt do not have a specific anti-corruption law, but active and passive bribery, attempted corruption, abuse of office, using public resources for private gain, and extortion are criminalised by Egypt's Penal Code. Furthermore, the Anti-Money Laundering Law 2002 and subsequent amendments criminalise money laundering. The law only refers to public sector and private-public sector corruption, whereas business-to-business corruption is not covered. Since foreign officials are not included in law on the list of individuals whom it is a crime to bribe, Global Integrity 2008 concludes that it is not considered illegal to bribe foreign public officials in Egypt. In 2008, the Unified Construction Law no 119 (in Arabic) was passed, aiming at reducing corruption in the construction sector by cutting down the number of regulations and entities involved in the construction process. Access the Lexadin World Law Guide for a collection of legislation in Egypt.

  • Government Strategies: Since 2002, the government has run a 'Say no to corruption' campaign, which has resulted in several high-profile cases where top officials and Members of Parliament have been taken to court. The campaign is entirely top-down and government-run without any input from NGOs or CSOs. The government strategy seems to be moving towards compliance with the UN Convention against Corruption, but it acts inconsistently. The vast number of agencies and initiatives designed to combat corruption are directly or indirectly controlled by the President. Furthermore, the reports published by Egypt's anti-corruption agencies are often not discussed in Parliament, in the media, or divulged to the general public. In 2007, a Transparency and Integrity Committee (TIC) was established within the Ministry of State for Administrative Development with the aim of promoting transparency, accountability and anti-corruption efforts in the public sector. TIC has published reports assessing the status of transparency in Egypt, which are available on the ministry's website. The Ministry of Investment (MOI) cooperates with the UNDP and other partners on a project that runs from 2007-2011 and aims at promoting investment by enhancing transparency, drafting a legal document on Freedom of Information and raising public awareness on corruption. Impunity amongst cabinet ministers, provincial governors, ministers' deputies and Members of Parliament is widespread. However, there have been recent initiatives to change the law regulating legal proceedings against cabinet ministers. The current law dates back to the 1958-1961 Egypt-Syria union and is considered to be anti-constitutional and impossible to enforce. Article 81 and Article 158 in the constitution make it illegal for the President, members of government and ministers to engage in business with the state while in public office. However, after their terms in office, they are free to pursue careers in the private sector.

  • Anti-Corruption Agencies: There are multiple agencies designed to address corruption, none of which are politically independent. They are all closely linked to the President, the Prime Minister or the Minister of Justice. The agencies are required to make annual reports, but these are not made publicly available and are only presented to the President, the Minister of Justice or the Minister of Interior. The most important anti-corruption agencies are presented below.

  • Administrative Control Authority (ACA): The ACA has been active for over 40 years and has a legal mandate to detect and combat public sector corruption, including corruption by state-owned companies and companies performing public work. However, it is a weak institution - the ACA requires presidential permission to arrest public officials suspected of corruption. The ACA refers its allegations to the Supreme State Security Court, which is responsible for the prosecution of corruption cases. The ACA is authorised to investigate and examine public servants' asset disclosures and to hand over the suspects to the Illegal Profiting Apparatus (see below). The ACA is also tasked to investigate citizens' complaints of illegal activities by civil servants as well as complaints published by the media (see 'Whistle-Blowing' below).

  • Administrative Prosecution Authority (APA): The APA was established by Law No. 117/1958. The law authorises the APA to monitor and investigate all civil servants at all level in all ministries and agencies. The APA, supported by a large and professional staff, investigates administrative and financial crime and has the mandate to hand over perpetrators to the criminal courts. The APA also serves as an internal reporting mechanism whereto public officials may direct their complaints or reports of corruption (see 'Whistle-Blowing' below).

  • Illegal Profiting Apparatus (IPA): The IPA was established by Law No. 11/1968 and has the mandate to investigate suspected illegal income. Public officials are required to disclose their assets and those of their spouses and children upon gaining office. The IPA receives reports concerning corruption from the general public and from private and public employees. However, the IPA does not investigate corruption cases, but rather passes cases forward to investigative authorities. Should investigative authorities not find evidence to support charges, Law No. 2/1977 also imposes penalties on people that report corruption falsely or with 'bad intentions'. In situations where asset disclosures are proven to be fraudulent, the IPA transfers the case to specialised criminal courts.

  • Money Laundering Combating Unit (MLCU): The MLCU was established in 2002 by virtue of the Anti-Money Laundering Law and is responsible for combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism in Egypt. Financial institutions can submit suspicious transaction reports to the MLCU, and forms to do so are available made available on the MLCU homepage.

  • Ombudsman's Office: The Office of the National Ombudsman is the same as the General Prosecutor's Office. The General Prosecutor/Ombudsman and the Attorney General are appointed by the President. The office is not politically independent, but is instead subordinate to the Ministry of Justice and subject to political interference. The General Prosecutor/Ombudsman cannot be removed from office without relevant justification. However, it is a well-known fact that the General Prosecutor/Ombudsman is loyal to the government and the President. Corruption and abuses by the state's security agencies or by government employees are rarely prosecuted, and the General Prosecutor/Ombudsman's Office is generally perceived as a defender of the government rather than of the people, as the constitutional mandate determines. The General Prosecutor/Ombudsman's Office is not required to make its reports publicly available.

  • Auditor General: The Central Auditing Organization (CAO, in Arabic) was established by Law No. 129/1960 to monitor the financial and administrative operation of civil service agencies, and companies and banks receiving public funds. The original purpose of the CAO was to assist the Parliament in overseeing the state finances and civil servants. However, after the passing of Law No. 144/1988, the CAO became subordinate to the President rather than the Parliament, to whom the CAO now submits its reports. It does not have the authority to give penalties or turn perpetrators over to the General or Administrative Prosecution Authorities. The result is that the government and public institutions ignore the CAO. The annual reports on government and public institutions' expenditures can only be accessed by a limited number of people.

  • E-Governance: Between the Egyptian Government Services Portal, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and the Industrial Development Authority, the general public, domestic and foreign companies and investors are provided with a broad selection of online services, ranging from telephone and water bill services to tax and licensing services and company registration. Online investor and exporter guides, as well as company directories are provided. It should be noted that the e-facilities of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, such as shipping, packaging and banking were out of order at the time of review. The Egyptian Government Services Portal's main page is in English, while the different e-services only are available in Arabic. In 2002, the Ministry of State for Administrative Development created local service centres where citizens and investors can carry out their business with the government without going to the relevant line ministries. The ministry also publishes an Internet guide to the 450 most requested services, specifying the documents and official fees associated with each. By spring 2009, as a part of the e-government strategy, the ministry had taken the initiative to make certain services accessible via SMS. Besides making government services more efficient, the aim is to reduce facilitation payments by minimising direct contact between government officials and citizens.

  • Public Procurement: Global Integrity 2008 describes Egypt's public procurement framework as 'very strong'. Public procurement is regulated by Law No. 89/1998 on organising tenders and bids. The law addresses conflicts of interest and has a mechanism to monitor assets, income and spending of public procurement officials. According to the law, major procurement requires competitive bidding, unsuccessful bidders have the possibility to challenge the decision in court, and companies that have engaged in corrupt practices are excluded from future participation in bidding. The Office of the United States Trade Representative 2007 reports that preference in awarding government contracts is given to parastatal companies when a state-owned company's bid is within 15% of other bids. The Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Development Law 2004 gives SMEs the right to supply 10% of the value of all government procurement denoted in any tender. The Government Procurement Portal, the first of its kind in the region, is still in its nascent stage and mostly in Arabic, but aims to provide companies with online access to supplier registration and tender information.

  • Whistle-Blowing: Citizens as well as private and public sector employees can report corruption to the Illegal Profiting Apparatus (IPA). Public sector employees also have an internal reporting mechanism under the Administrative Prosecution Authority (APA). However, there are no laws designed to protect whistleblowers in the private or public sector. In fact, according to Law No. 2/1977, civil servants as well as private sector employees face serious repercussions if they report corruption falsely or with the intent to defame the accused. According to Global Integrity 2008, this prevents citizens and public servants from informing the IPA of corruption cases for fear of being imprisoned, especially when the asset disclosure records of civil servants can be manipulated. Due to the high number of investigated cases (about 75,000 cases annually between 2002 and 2007, tens of thousand of which are criminal cases involving embezzlement, facilitating the theft of public money, bribery and fraud), the IPA acts on complaints relatively slowly. This adds another layer of deterrence to reporting corruption.

  • General Comments on the Public Anti-Corruption Initiatives: Because the anti-corruption campaign is entirely government-run and does not seek to include input from NGOs or CSOs, the government has set itself up for criticism. The critics claim that the campaign is targeted at those in disagreement with the government, and that it is being used by President Mubarak to pave the way for his son Gamal's political career. The bias of the campaign is further substantiated by the fact that impunity amongst cabinet ministers and their deputies, Members of Parliament, and provincial governors is widespread. Egypt has set up several anti-corruption agencies, but none are completely free of political interference. Taking into account the fact that whistleblower protection is highly problematic, it is doubtful if the anti-corruption campaign will have the effect desired by observers. A positive development is the strong public procurement law and the Government Procurement Portal, which has the potential to become an important tool to combat corruption and increase transparency.