EMPLOYEES of the Central Auditing Agency (CAA) this week reiterated their demand that the CAA become an independent entity. The CAA is affiliated to the office of the Egyptian president. Freedom and Justice Party members, whose party holds the majority in parliament, have said that they want the CAA to be under parliamentary supervision, a measure CAA employees strongly oppose. They argue that the international practice is that entities like the CAA are completely independent, and cannot be supervised by the very entities that they audit. A draft law aimed at guaranteeing the agency's independence was up for discussion in parliament this week.
Established in 1942, the CAA currently oversees 22,000 entities. Since its inception, it has seen 16 different presidents at its helm. One of the revolution's main goals was to put an end to corruption. According to Ibrahim Yousri, CAA and Observers Against Corruption (OAC) member, one of the ways to overcome corruption is to ensure the agency's independence. OAC is among the groups spearheading the effort for the CAA's independence. Yousri told reporters this week that "attention has all been focussed on the funds of former corrupt officials in foreign banks, while millions were looted domestically."
The OAC are demanding that the head of the CAA is elected rather than appointed by the president, as is currently the case. They also want transparency in the publication of the CAA's reports. And they want authority for employees in the form of immunity and judicial seizure, to enable them to do their job.
According to OAC members, the CAA's authority is handicapped by the fact that all powers are concentrated in the chairman's hands, which in the past has meant that the agency was kept from scrutinising certain areas of spending. Another issue which the OAC wants to see changed in the law is the punishment for not responding to CAA reporting requests. In 1988 the punishment was eased, rendering the CAA ineffective.
Moreover, OAC members are calling for the inclusion of articles in the new constitution that guarantee the CAA's independence, clarify its duties and grant its members immunity.
© Al Ahram Weekly 2012
