Corruption abatement strategy - Egypt

January 25^th Egypt, what are the values to adopt going forward?

This "revolution" erupted under the pressures of corruption and injustice. The momentum it is creating is filled with anger, rage and revenge. Beware.

Historically revenge has never been a constructive force. It is a force that destructs its beholder far more than it does its target(s). For Egypt, this will prove very critical as it starts to deal with corruption.

The economical injustice in Egypt places most country resources and capital in the hands of a minority that is at best estimated at 5% of the population. This capital has been mostly acquired through unjust and unlawful actions of power and authority misuse. It is this capital that is behind all economic indicators coming out of this country such as GDP.

If we start prosecuting (or even scaring) every capitalist in Egypt (or most of them) we are bound to lose the pillars of our economy and the trust we need to bring this economy forward in the international economic arena. Yes, we may be able to recover some of the wealth and reinvest it back, but to disfigure all business and capital faces we would be bringing the economic engine to a halt, let alone provoking needless pre-emptive defenses capable of committing crimes against the society to get away from the forces of reform. The demonstration sabotaging with staged clashes and the camels are a good example of these crimes.

Hence we recall our first argument of revenge being a destructive force, with its opponent being pardon. This pardon needs to be accepted from the people in order for it not to be construed as double standard reform which would backfire in the form of distrust to the new government. And this public acceptance is step one…

Step two in implementing acceptable pardon is to provide the right exits (mechanisms to earn the pardon) for businessmen (the taboo word in Egypt right now) to come forward with concessions (returning the people money, investing back in the society, CSR, etc…) which will grant them the pardon. Prosecution of some corrupt figures is still a must, but we should not take everyone with the same sword. And this is step two… Give them a way to earn the pardon of the people…

Step three (in parallel with 1 and 2) is to fight corruption that is widespread in the society; the petty cash corruption. The fight against petty cash corruption is not only through the judicial system, it relies a lot on providing people with the decent income that would support their lives without having to look for dirty money. And by developing the work force to earn even more and contribute more to the society. By giving people the sense of worth in the society.

Egypt beware, revenge is not the answer; it would be a disaster.