Egypt gets 13 new ministers in Cabinet reshuffle

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi directed Parliament to hold an emergency session on Saturday to approve the changes

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said the Cabinet reshuffle followed consultations with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly. Reuters

Egypt’s Parliament on Saturday approved an extensive Cabinet reshuffle that changed the leadership of 13 ministries including those overseeing health, irrigation and water resources, and tourism.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said the decision to reshuffle the Cabinet was taken following extensive consultations with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.

Mr El Sisi said the changes were made to “to improve government performance in some important sectors, both internally and externally, which will contribute to protecting the interests of the state and its capabilities, and directly improve the services provided to the Egyptian citizen”.

The 13 ministries involved in the reshuffle are Health, Immigration, Local Development, Higher Education, Culture, Civil Aviation, Military Production, Education, Tourism and Antiquities, Manpower, Public Sector Business, Trade and Industry, and Irrigation and Water Resources.

Reda Hegazy was appointed minister for education, replacing Tarek Shawki, who was appointed to the post in 2017 by former prime minister Sherif Ismail.

Hani Swailem was named the minister for water resources and irrigation, taking over from Mohamed Abdel Aty who led currently stalled negotiations with Ethiopia over its giant dam on the Blue Nile.

Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, who previously headed the Higher Education Ministry, was appointed health minister. He had been doubling as the Health Ministry’s acting head since former minister Hala Zayed resigned in October.

Mohamed Ayman Ashour will take over from Mr Abdel Ghaffar as minister for higher education.

Immigration minister Nabila Makram, whose son was charged with double murder in California this year, was replaced by Soha Samir El Gendy, Egypt's ambassador to Ireland.

Ahmed Issa Taha was given charge of one of the country’s most vital sectors, taking over the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities from Khaled El Anany, who had been praised for steering the sector through various challenges including the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.

Parliament also approved the replacement of Nevine Gamea by Ahmed Samir as the trade and industry minister, and the appointment of Lt Gen Mohamed Abbas as the minister for civil aviation.

Hassan Shehata replaced Mohamed Saafan as the new minister of manpower, while Inas Abdel Dayem, a renowned flautist, was replaced by Nevine El Kilani as culture minister.

Hisham Amna, Mahmoud Esmat and Mohamed Salah El Din were appointed as the new heads of the local development, public sector business and military production ministries, respectively.

Officials involved in consultations with Mr El Sisi on the changes told Al Masry Al Youm newspaper that the reshuffle followed two weeks of discussions and interviews with 50 candidates for ministerial roles.

In a post on his Facebook page, Mr El Sisi thanked all the departing ministers for their service to the country and wished their replacements success in their new roles.