‘Rush for personal interest’
mp osama al-shaheen, a member of the muslim brotherhood movement, said the ‘hospitality’ file of the ministry of interior for fiscal 2014-2015 and 2015/2016 has not been closed and will be of utmost importance since the expenses of this department has reached record levels of waste, an increase of 736 percent or calculated as 29 million dinars. the file is tainted with favoritism.
al-shaheen said he is surprised this is happening at the ministry of interior, when the government calls for rationalism, imposing taxes and refusing to reduce the retirement age.
he also pointed out in two years the department has thrown parties and organized banquets for more than 313,000 people, which roughly work out to a banquet for 429 people each day.
al-shaheen also accused a colleague in the national assembly who was shouting at the top of his voice to sweep the issue under the carpet because he is involved in the case since there are documents to prove that point that anyone who works in the hotel industry has a percentage in a kuwaiti hotel, considering it a blatant conflict of interest and abuse of authority and parliamentary advantage.
mentary advantage. mp safa’a al-hashem through her lawyer filed a complaint in 2014 with the attorney-general against the minister of interior. in the complaint she stated she has proof that 62,000 kuwaitis have acquired citizenship through fraud. the complaint also included civil information and the court verdicts against a number of officials in the ministry who are linked to the fraud.
meanwhile, dozens of similar statements containing threats were made by mps but nothing happened. the threats have evaporated in thin air once the complainants got personal benefits.
most intimidations and threats fizzle out once the concerned people get what they want. for four years, we have been waiting for the outcome of the complaint which was submitted by safa’a al-hashem concerning the issue of 62,000 forged citizenships. we have yet to know whatever happened to this complaint and why the issue was hushed up.
on the other hand, a minister, whom i hold in high esteem, told me he is often forced to bring a smile on his face, perhaps to prevent some mps from leaving the abdullah al-salem hall with the excuse of calling someone or smoking because he hates the term ‘lack of quorum’ since it delays the adoption of important and urgent laws, which does not mean anything to some mps compared to their interest in completing the transactions of voters.
in response to what i wrote about the need for the civil service commission to intervene on the issue of performance evaluation reports in ministries and government institutions, one official told me after due consideration the concerned people found it futile because of the continued interference of some mps who intervene on behalf of their voters and as a result are given excellent grades even if their performance was below par and even if their attendance was questionable.
i do not know how the state can advance and democracy progress in the midst of all this. we pray to almighty god to help kuwait.