The "Long Live Egypt" Black Box: Malaky's Estate for Sisi!

On June 24, 2014, the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, announced that he had waived half of his salary of 42 thousand Egyptian pounds (equivalent to about 5,900 USD at the time), as well as half of his wealth for the country, launching the “Long Live Egypt” fund. », To receive donations that came from businessmen and personalities close to the authority, under the title" Supporting the most needy groups and families. " It is true that half of Sisi's wealth, which he donated, the Egyptians did not know anything about, or even what remains for him, but the fund remained a weapon that is the strongest in his hand to extract money from businessmen and various parties, as a "modern" alternative to the procedures for confiscating money! Since that time, the name “Long live Egypt” has been repeated from time to time, and at the various crises that the country is going through, although no official documents and documents have emerged on the aspects of spending and the money of donors, especially with receiving golden donations and various requirements from simple citizens who Sisi received some of them in Federal Palace.

My Majlis ... And Presidential Spending

It took a year to get the fund’s decision, as it was published by the “Official Gazette” on July 8, 2015, and it stipulated the formation of the Board of Trustees to include Sheikh Al-Azhar, the Pope of Alexandria, the governor of the Central Bank, and ministers: finance, investment, industry and trade, and justice, in addition to six Members of public figures, provided that the fund is subordinate to the Cabinet. However, during the past five years, the Board of Trustees has met only limited times, especially since the Fund’s decisions are taken by the CEO based on the President’s assignments, while the role of the Prime Minister, to whom the Fund reports directly, does not exceed the execution of the assignments.

Thus, the "general" of "Long live Egypt" is spent according to his personal decisions all the time, sometimes he orders the purchase of a "microbus" for a lady who saw it working on a taxi, and sometimes he orders the preparation of a vehicle and a kiosk for a lady who read her story, but rather receives some of them and speaks to them in the "Federal" without That there be a study of the maturity of the cases he has seen or read about in other cases. On several occasions, Sisi directed spending on projects that were supposed to be carried out by the government, foremost of which is aid to poor and flood-affected villages, but rather the provision of monthly pensions, which are essentially roles of the Ministry of Social Solidarity.

But the president treats the fund as if it is part of the state’s budget, or a “money tap” that it manages as it pleases, but rather is responsible for alleviating the government, to the extent that the fund is mandated to contribute to rebuilding informal settlements. According to the official website of "Viva Egypt", the fund is based on major programs (education, urban development, economic empowerment, social support, disasters and crises), while a group of partners in the forefront includes all government and private banks, and a number of companies owned by business leaders People close to the state.

Frequent Begging

In parallel, Sisi does not stop asking for benefits and donations from businessmen to support the fund without explaining the aspects of spending and the strategy in which he works, so many are forced to donate to satisfy the president, especially in crises, which was repeated even with the "Journalists Syndicate" which provided part of the funds Activities to the fund, in an attempt to satisfy the government despite a wide range of journalists objecting to the move. But finally, the lack of citizens' confidence in the fund, in which workers receive large salaries, compared to government work in general, as well as their recent age, has prompted the avoidance of donation. What is strange is that the “general” is not shy about criticizing publicly against businessmen in the event that they do not donate, knowing that the fund provides receipts for the value of donations to remove them from taxes due to the state that are directed directly to the state treasury, and some artists and public figures have criticized it.

In the case of the quarantine imposed by the government on the returnees from abroad due to the Corona virus and charging them with the cost of the quarantine, which caused anger and protest because they were forced to stay in five-star government hotels, Sisi commissioned “Long live Egypt” to pay millions of pounds to the returnees, including those coming from The United States and England. It is true that some residents at the expense of the fund decided to donate, but the cost of their stay is much higher than most of them donated, at a time when the state has worked to achieve the most financial benefit from them after returning them with amounts higher than the prices of regular flights. In sum, the money that came out of the fund returned to the government’s pocket.

It is worth noting that Al-Sisi's decision in this regard came in the media and populist, especially with his disregard for bigger problems and crises that were supposed to be covered by the fund, which received instructions that he implemented immediately without reviewing or discussing, neither the Board of Trustees approved the president’s decision, nor all returnees asked for aid, but rather Aid did not include the cost of recovering the middle-income and lower-income groups from the Gulf, in particular Kuwait, but rather between the toilers and the rich. According to the information, “Long live Egypt” did not interfere with the affairs of more than 5,800 Egyptians stuck in Kuwait in inhumane conditions for the sake of return, and they are violators of residency who had been in detention more than two weeks ago, and now the Egyptian government has refused to publicly return them because of stopping Flights until further notice due to «corona». Nevertheless, "Long live Egypt" took advantage of the crisis to collect more donations under the title of providing supplies to the Ministry of Health, which is supposed to buy medical devices and supplies, bearing in mind that Al-Mahrousa provided aid to affected countries!

On the other hand, despite the state's attempt to appear in the form of responsibility and its ability to face the crisis of "Corona", it became clear that large amounts of allocations amounting to one hundred billion pounds were obtained from "Long live Egypt" who intervenes and spends according to the presidency, and without regard to important considerations such as Paying a grant of 500 pounds for irregular employment, which was severely affected by the recent economic conditions. In sum, Al-Sisi does not enter the fund in what could deplete its resources, even if the goal is to help poor workers, which was demonstrated by the Fund's refusal to help irregular workers whose data were not recorded within the deadline set by the government to disburse work-off benefits.