Egyptian Government to Investigate Charity Hospital 57357 After Claims of Corruption

The Egyptian government has set up a committee to investigate complaints about the operation and spending of charity hospital 57357, according to Ahram.

This was announced by Egypt’s solidarity minister Ghada Waly, 2 weeks after Egypt Al Youm columnist Wahid Hamed, amongst various others, publically criticized the charity’s spending of millions of Egyptian pounds worth of donations.

MP Mohamed Abdallah Zain Eddin addressed the Prime Minister regarding this, and called for a thorough investigation into a charity people have been donating to for years. He also added that citizens donate money to improve the hospital’s medical service, and not to pay for big budget advertising campaigns that can cost up to EGP 100,000 a minute. Another MP calls for  the establishment of an independent oversight body in order to control the funds of donations.

He was critical of their big-budget advertising campaigns, as well as the extravagant salaries of the management, which are all from one family.

Ghada Waly stated that, “it is very important that we highlight the positive work of civil society but at the same time work to identify and take legal measures against any violations or transgressions.” She added that they would investigate and give further information about the case in 10 days.

The hospital, which was founded in 2007, relies heavily on donations to treat children cancer patients, organise advertising campaigns and pay the salaries of its staff. It's not taking these allegations lightly, having declared war by claiming that the allegations stem from inaccurate information. They've gone as far as filing a lawsuit to the prosecutor accusing columnist Hamed of spreading false news about their organization. Fake news! That reminds us of someone.

Main image from Suez Cement