“What can I do about it?” This was Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s response to a question posed by a participant in the first forum of the Presidential Leadership Program early this month about how to fight corruption in municipalities.

“Egyptians will serve their country through electing efficient young men and women who want to take the responsibility of the municipalities,” he said.

Sisi’s statements include an implied understanding that corruption is spread throughout the municipalities. Despite the difficulty in tracking these incidents of corruption and determining how much they cost Egypt, the Forum for Development and Human Rights Dialogue (Moltaka) has estimated the money wasted in municipalities due to corruption to be 494 million Egyptian pounds ($55.6 million), and they estimated that 17 million Egyptian pounds ($1.9 million) have been embezzled during the first half of 2016. The study was based on an analysis of the incidents of corruption published in 12 Egyptian newspapers. According to the study, corruption in municipalities ranked first, as it represented 65% of the overall corruption.

According to Articles 175 and 176 of the Egyptian Constitution, the state is divided into administrative units including governorates, cities and villages. The state guarantees support of administrative, financial and economic decentralization. The law regulates the means to enable the administrative units to provide, advance and regulate local facilities.