SCMR's President Names 'Essam Farag' as New Sec. Gen.

Makram Mohamed Ahmed, president of the Supreme Council for Media Regulations (SCMR) appointed Essam Farag as the council’s new secretary-general to succeed Ahmed Selim, who was arrested over bribery charges linked to his work.

This came in an emergency meeting held today to discuss what was raised about the council’s Secretary-General and his detention over bribery charges.

Selim's detention was based on ACA's investigations; His office was seized after his arrest.

The case is the latest in a string of corruption cases brought by the Administrative Control Authority, the country's anti-corruption watchdog, against top state officials in recent months. Those charged include the former head of the Egyptian Customs Authority, the head of the state Food Industries Holding Company, and a number of supply ministry officials.

Earlier, Chairman of (ACA) Sherif Seif al-Deen said the authority’s action plan should include exerting all efforts to fight corruption and prevent it by all ways based on honesty and integrity alongside with respect for the law and enhancing transparency.

Seif al-Deen stressed during a meeting with ACA’s members on the occasion of the start of the new control year – from July 2019 till June 2020,  the importance of applying the standards of preventive control at all the state’s sectors, following up the plans of the executive bodies, and overcoming obstacles faced by the development process.

Since the beginning of 2019, ACA succeeded in achieving accomplishments, detecting violations, fighting corruption, achieving revenues in favor of the state, and examining the citizens’ compliments, the chairman stated.

Regarding the criminal cases, the authority managed to implement 412 various criminal cases including bribery, forgery, illegal gain, and squandering of public money in addition to taking legal measures against 1,433 public employees.

ACA achieved revenues worth EGP2.4 billion due to detecting violations in several domains as well as EGP 3.3 billion due to taking some measures that aimed to regulate the food subsidy system.

It also seized 482 tons of spoiled food, met 1,004 demands for different state’s sectors, and resolved 237 complaints.

It is worth mentioning the authority cooperates with the Ministries of Communications and Information Technology, Planning, and Health in supervising the Information Infrastructure Project, automation government services, and the comprehensive health insurance system.