Bassem Audah "The Minister of the Destitute" is sentenced to death

From among all the Muslim Brotherhood leaders sentenced recently to death, no one received as much sympathy as did the former minister of supplies, Bassem Audah.

Last Thursday, Al-Giza criminal court ordered the referral to the the Mufti of the papers of 13 Muslim Brotherhood leaders, including the General Guide Mohamed Badie, Issam Al-Erian, and Mohamed Al-Beltagi, in the event of Al-Istiqamah Mosque that led to the death of 20 supporters of President Mohamed Morsi in clashes with security forces and thugs around Al-Giza Square.

Many Egyptians believe that Bassem Audah was the best minister in Morsi’s government. Some go as far as considering him the best minister in Egypt’s modern history. This is so because he succeeded in resolving several severe crises that remained unresolvable for many years that saw the succession of a number of governments. Foremost among these crises was the crisis of the cooking gas bottles and the bread loaf crisis. This is despite the fact that he was in office for no more than six months.

The young smart face minister won the hearts of the Egyptians and set an example as to how the youth of the January revolution could be empowered. His ministry was considered the one ministry that is closest to the needs and daily concerns of the poor.

The Minister of the Destitute

Audah took charge of the Ministry of Supplies in January 2013. His time in the ministry was characterised by a strong interaction with the masses. He also succeeded in standing up to rampant corruption within his ministry and provided innovative solutions to some of the problems facing him.

Audah managed to resolve the crisis of the bread loaf and raised its quality to an unprecedented standard. Within less than two months he was able to rid this sector of corruption although the Egyptians suffered from the bread crisis for many years. He also resolved the crisis of diesel and raised Egypt’s wheat production to levels not attained for many decades so much so that as far as this strategic crop is concerned the country was nearing self sufficiency.

Several nicknames were given to Audah including “The Minister of the Poor”, “The Minister of the People” and “The Minister of the Destitute” because of his espousal of their causes and because of feeling for their suffering. Even some of the staunchest opponents of the Muslim Brotherhood could not but acknowledge that he was the best minister in Hisham Qandil’s cabinet.

Audah was born in Al-Manufiah Governorate on 16 March 1970 to a middle class family. His father worked as a director in one of the education departments. He is married and has four children.

He joined the Muslim Brotherhood when he was a student at Cairo University in the late eighties of the last century. He was at the time enrolled in the Faculty of Engineering. He was one of the most active cadre and was put in charge of several student files. Then he worked as a lecturer in the department of medical engineering within the faculty.

Audah was one of the Muslim Brotherhood leaders who took to the Tahrir Square during the first eighteen days of the January revolution. He was wounded on the Camel Day (In Arabic: Mawke’at al-Gamal). His picture with a wound in the head in front of one of the tents inside the square was famously circulated across the social networks at the time.

After the revolution, Audah took charge of the popular committees in Al-Giza Governorate, whose task was to distribute bread and fuel in various parts of the governorate after the government ceased to provide the public with basic commodities and services due to the collapse of security.

When the Muslim Brotherhood established the Freedom and Justice Party, Audah became a member of the Central Secretariat for Planning and Development within the party. Then he became the head of the Local Development Committee within the party.

When President Mohamed Morsi won the elections and became President of the Republic, he sought the assistance of Audah putting him in charge of the file of of fuel and energy within the president’s office and appointed him as coordinator of the “Clean Homeland” campaign, covering the entire country.

12 Cases

Audah took part in Al-Nahdah sit-in right from day one. After the storming of the sit-in, he escaped into a friend’s remote farm in the Wadi Al-Natroon Vally, which is part of Al-Bahirah Governorate.

Moreover, he was among the first Muslim Brotherhood leaders against whom the prosecution issued arrest warrants in the aftermath of the storming of Rabaa and Al-Nahdah sit-ins. He was accused of inciting to murder in the events that followed the toppling of President Mohamed Morsi. Charges were levelled against him in 12 cases before police managed to arrest him in November 2013.

Following the removal of President Morsi, the coup leader Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi requested Audah to continue in his position as minister of supplies, but he refused as he made public himself in one of the court sessions of his trial. His assertions were never denied by the coup authorities.

A source within the Muslim Brotherhood has told Arabi 21 website that prior to the coup the group was preparing Audah for a more important role. He pointed out that there were requests within the group for Audah to be the next prime minister or even the Brotherhood’s next presidential candidate because he is one of the most popular members of the Brotherhood among supporters and opponents alike, and because he enjoys the love of a great number of Egyptians.

Many people believe that Audah was one of the Brotherhood leaders who were specifically targeted by the coup authorities with the fabrication of so many cases against them in a bid to get rid of them so as not to constitute any threat in the future when people start comparing the performance of the current ministers with that of Audah.

A wave of discontent

The social networks witnessed a massive wave of discontent in response to the death penalty issued against Bassim Audah. A number of politicians and activists denounced the sentence. Poet and political activist Abdel-Rahman Youssef said on his Facebook page: “Bassem Audah is the one minister who is said by both supporters and opponents alike to have deserted air-conditioned offices and roamed the streets in order to provide the citizen, within a short period of time, what he could of honourable living.”

Youssef said mockingly: “The coup authorities once offered him to stay in his job as minister of supplies but when he refused they referred his papers to the Mufti. It is Bassem Audah.”

Writer and journalist Wael Qandil ridiculed the sentence issued against Audah, saying on his Facebook page: “The crimes of Bassem Audah include inciting bakeries to produce a bread loaf that is befitting for humans, conspiring with the farmers to increase wheat production and involvement in the killing of the cooking gas bottles crisis.”

Engineer Hatem Azzam, Vice Chairman of Al-Wasat Party said that Audah, who was personally known to him, is: “knowledge, work, ethics, sincerity, patriotism and dedication to serving the poor.”

During the rule of President Morsi, the opposition represented at the time by the Salvation Front called for sacking Bassem Audah from the government claiming that, because of his success, he might influence voting in the parliamentary elections that were supposed to be held in the middle of last year.

Translated from Arabi21, 22 June 2014

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.