The head of Egypt’s Central Auditing Authority (CAA) Hesham Geneina was sacked after a report by the independent body alleged mass corruption in Egyptian state institutions.
His sacking was announced in a presidential decree aired on TV Monday evening, but his lawyer said Geneina is yet to receive a formal notification.
The controversial report covered the period between 2012 and 2015 and estimated that more than $76billion has been unaccounted for.
President Mohamed Morsi served as Egypt’s president from 2012 to 2013 and was ousted in a military backed coup d’état led by Sisi who was later elected as president.
Sisi has made of fighting corruption a key part of his government’s agenda but did not welcome the report of the CAA entitled “Analysis of the cost of corruption in some sectors in Egypt.”
A presidential commission was formed to investigate the report and it concluded that it was misleading. The State Security Prosecution also stated that the findings of the report were inaccurate.
In December, Geneina told Youm7 newspaper that it was difficult to estimate the cost of corruption in the Egyptian institutions but it is at least $76 billion. His remarks irked senior government officials and pro-government media with certain accusing him of being a Muslim Brotherhood sympathizer because he was appointed to the post during their tenure. The presidential decree did not however state the reasons for his immediate dismissal.
In another development, the appeal of the 31 judges against their early retirement was rejected by the judicial disciplinary council. The judges known as the “Judges for Egypt” had rejected the military coup d’état and declared their support to Morsi’s “legitimacy.” The State questioned their impartiality to justify early retirement measure imposed to them.
