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Tunisia Government Relaunches War on Corruption

File photo: Tunisians clash with riot police officers in Tataouine over joblessness. Zoubeir Souissi/Reuters
File photo: Tunisians clash with riot police officers in Tataouine over joblessness. Zoubeir Souissi/Reuters
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Tunisia Government Relaunches War on Corruption

File photo: Tunisians clash with riot police officers in Tataouine over joblessness. Zoubeir Souissi/Reuters
File photo: Tunisians clash with riot police officers in Tataouine over joblessness. Zoubeir Souissi/Reuters

The fight against corruption was back on the table, with the Tunisian government taking conclusive decisions mainly to refer 21 high-ranking customs employees to compulsory retirement on suspected graft.

Government sources confirmed that the decisions fall in line with the anti-corruption campaign launched by Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed in 2017. They also signal administrative disciplinary measures and a direct message to any civil servant who contemplates illegal actions.

Tunisian Minister of Public Service Mohamed Abbou took the decision on the customs employees in consultation with Finance Minister Nizar Yaiche.

Moreover, Yaiche issued several effective decisions while the government addressed the Customs administration to implement the mandatory retirement move.

However, some political parties and rights organizations insisted on referring the employees to the judiciary.

According to leaks, some female employees are also suspected of involvement in corruption.

The latest moves were made shortly after granting Abbou a government mandate to access all information and documents from relevant ministries as part of the fight against graft.

In a related context, head of the Media and Communication Unit of the First Instance Court in Tunis Mohsen Dali ordered a jail term in the case of Yassin al-Shanoufi, a businessman and former presidential candidate, for his involvement in financial corruption and money laundering. He was also fined TND9 million (around USD3 million).

Shanoufi was arrested in 2017 during Chahed’s term, along with 10 prominent Tunisian businessmen on several charges including financial corruption, tax evasion, and smuggling.

Ennahdha leader Abdellatif al-Makki described the current government as qualified to tackle political and economic reforms as well as fighting corruption.

Earlier, Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh stressed his intention to hold the corrupt accountable.

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‘War Ruined Me’: Lebanon’s Farmers Mourn Lost Season

This photo shows burnt agricultural fields that were hit during Israeli shelling in the southern Lebanese area of Marjeyoun, on October 30, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
This photo shows burnt agricultural fields that were hit during Israeli shelling in the southern Lebanese area of Marjeyoun, on October 30, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
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‘War Ruined Me’: Lebanon’s Farmers Mourn Lost Season

This photo shows burnt agricultural fields that were hit during Israeli shelling in the southern Lebanese area of Marjeyoun, on October 30, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
This photo shows burnt agricultural fields that were hit during Israeli shelling in the southern Lebanese area of Marjeyoun, on October 30, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)

Lebanese farmer Abu Taleb briefly returned to his orchard last month to salvage an avocado harvest but ran away empty handed as soon as Israeli air raids began.

"The war broke out just before the first harvest season," said Abu Taleb, displaced from the village of Tayr Debba near the southern city Tyre.

"When I went back in mid-October, it was deserted... it was scary," said the father of two, who is now sheltering in Tripoli more than 160 kilometers to the north and asked to be identified by a pseudonym because of security concerns.

Abu Taleb said his harvesting attempt was interrupted by an Israeli raid on the neighboring town of Markaba.

He was forced back to Tripoli without the avocados he usually exports every year.

Agricultural regions in Lebanon have been caught in the crossfire since hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah ramped up in October last year, a full-scale war breaking out on September 23.

The UN's agriculture agency, FAO, said more than 1,909 hectares of farmland in south Lebanon had been damaged or left unharvested between October last year and September 28.

The conflict has also displaced more than half a million people, including farmers who abandoned their crops just when they were ready to harvest.

Hani Saad had to abandon 120 hectares of farmland in the southern region of Nabatiyeh, which is rich in citrus and avocado plantations.

"If the ceasefire takes place within a month, I can save the harvest, otherwise, the whole season is ruined," said Saad who has been displaced to the coastal city of Jounieh, north of Beirut.

When an Israeli strike sparked a fire in one of Saad's orchards, he had to pay out of his own pocket for the fuel of the fire engine that extinguished the blaze.

His employees, meanwhile, have fled. Of 32 workers, 28 have left, mainly to neighboring Syria.

- 'Worst phase' -

Israeli strikes have put at least two land crossings with Syria out of service, blocking a key export route for produce and crops.

Airlines have suspended flights to Lebanon as insurance costs soar.

This has dealt a deadly blow to agricultural exports, most of which are destined for Gulf Arab states.

Fruit exporter Chadi Kaadan said exports to the Gulf have dropped by more than 50 percent.

The supply surplus in the local market has caused prices to plummet at home, he added.

"In the end, it is the farmer who loses," said Saad who used to earn $5,000 a day before the war started. Today, he barely manages $300.

While avocados can stay on the tree for months, they are starting to run out of water following Israeli strikes on irrigation channels, Saad said.

Citrus fruits and cherimoyas have already started to fall.

"The war has ruined me. I spend my time in front of the TV waiting for a ceasefire so I can return to my livelihood," Saad told AFP.

Gaby Hage, a resident of the Christian town of Rmeish, on the border with Israel, is one of the few farmers who decided to stay in south Lebanon.

He has only been able to harvest 100 of his 350 olive trees, which were left untended for a year because of cross-border strikes.

"I took advantage of a slight lull in the fighting to pick what I could," he told AFP.

Hage said agriculture was a lifeline for the inhabitants of his town, which has been cut off by the war.

Ibrahim Tarchichi, president of the farmers' union in the Bekaa Valley, which was hit hard by the strikes, believes that agriculture in Lebanon is going through the "worst phase" of its recent history.

"I have experienced four wars, it has never been this serious," he said.