Politics

Egypt’s President al-Sisi in trouble for purchasing plane worth $500m amidst economic crisis

Published

2 years ago

September 4, 2022

President Abdul Fatah al-Sisi of Egypt is in the eyes of the storm following the purchase of a brand new presidential jumbo jet at the cost of $500 million amid in a country undergoing serious economic crisis.

The purchase of the plane has triggered fierce debates in the country as opposition figures see the move as insensitive especially as the country is going through a severe economic crisis.

Egypt acquired the Boeing 747-8 aircraft last week from Shannon of Ireland, where it was undergoing painting work by International Aerospace Coatings (IAC) after purchasing it from German airliner, Lufthansa.

An Egyptian opposition leader who condemned the purchase of the Boeing 747-8 aircraft at $500 million on Saturday, said the country’s presidency does not need such a plane at a time the country is struggling to generate foreign currency for imports and to tackle inflation which has been hitting the country hard for years.

However, Egyptian MP Mustafa Al-Bakri who rose in support of the President, said the reports that the plane cost $500 million were mere propaganda from the opposition Muslim Brotherhood.

Al-Bakri said the aircraft was bought for $240 million, following a report by Boeing that the current 28-year-old presidential Airbus A340 would be unfit for use by 2023.

But an expert of Constitutional Law, Nour Farahat said Egyptians would only accept the narrative of Al-Bakri if he can prove his claims by providing the public with a report from Boeing about the expiry of the presidential plane, as well as details about the purchase of the new one.

Related Topics:Egypt Featured Plane President Abdul Fatah al-Sisi

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Politics

Egyptian court upholds ex-presidential candidate Ahmed Tantawy’s sentence

Published

20 hours ago

December 18, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Former presidential candidate, Ahmed Tantawy, and his campaign manager, Mohamed Abou El-Diar, were found guilty of faking election paperwork, and given a one-year jail term with labour by an Egyptian court, Tantawy’s legal team announced Tuesday.

Last year, Tantawy was the most well-known candidate to run against Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for a third term, winning 89.6% of the vote.

To avoid receiving the necessary number of public endorsements to be on the ballot, he halted his campaign before to the election, alleging harassment and arrests directed at hundreds of his family members and associates.

Egyptian authorities criticised Tantawy’s tactic of distributing unapproved copies of endorsement forms to garner popular support, but they denied any misconduct.

Egypt’s Misdemeanour Appeals Court upheld the May court ruling on Monday, which prohibits Tantawy from seeking public office for five years and mandates that he pay a fine of 20,000 Egyptian pounds ($395).

Tantawy’s defence team member and well-known human rights attorney Khaled Ali said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that the appeals procedure was riddled with anomalies.

Ali said lawyers struggled for months to confirm court dates, with hearings appearing absent from official schedules and case files missing from court registries.

The public prosecution was not immediately available to comment on the ruling or on Ali’s allegations over the process.

Politics

Court orders Uganda to compensate LRA war crimes victims

Published

21 hours ago

December 18, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Uganda’s tribunal has ordered the government to pay up to 10 million Ugandan shillings ($2,740) to each victim of Lord’s Resistance Army commander, Thomas Kwoyelo, the first senior rebel leader to be convicted.

Kwoyelo, a mid-level LRA leader, was sentenced to 40 years in jail in October for war crimes like murder, rape, slavery, torture, and kidnapping.

Kwoyelo’s “indigent” status prevented him from compensating the victims, thus the court ordered the government to compensate.

Kwoyelo’s crimes were “a manifestation of failure on the part of the government that triggers a responsibility on the state to pay reparations to the victims,” the verdict added.

The court also ordered various financial compensation to Kwoyelo’s property destruction and theft victims.

From strongholds in northern Uganda, the LRA brutalised Ugandans under Joseph Kony for over 20 years while it fought the military to destroy the government.

The militants raped, abducted, cut off victims’ limbs and mouths, and bludgeoned them to death using crude implements.

Under military pressure, the LRA withdrew to lawless forests in South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic in 2005 and perpetrated civilian atrocities.

Although assaults are rare, Kony and splintered groups are reported to dwell there.

Kwoyelo was taken by the Ugandan military in 2009 in the northeastern Congo, and his case made its way through Ugandan courts until he was found guilty in August.