Abdel Moneim Youssef is not your average public servant. If there is one compelling impression from meeting him in person, it is that there is much more to him than meets the eye. In this sense, his office at the Ministry of Telecommunications is revealingly unrevealing: large but functional, not overtly more guarded than the premises of other Grade 1 national officials, and adorned with memorabilia — fittingly in his case, blown-up images of historic Lebanese phone cards decorate the spacious waiting area. But the bureaucrat has certain attributes that pit him as quite exceptional for a public servant. For one, he singlehandedly holds a tremendous amount of power over the telecommunications sector. He is at once director general of operations and maintenance at the Ministry of Telecommunications and chair–general manager of state owned fixed line operator Ogero, which acts as an internet service provider while simultaneously being responsible for
Very interesting piece… and brutally honest as we’ve gotten used to reading between the lines. This however cracked me up “buying shovels and digging trenches to check for the presence of cables”. It may unfortunately have to come to that.
EdmundApril 7, 2015 - 5:36 PM
I really just don’t get it. The 40 min interview could have lasted 15. Why isn’t it on? ” We need to do more work” or “we are waiting for a decision”. Why be evasive? This guy should be fired! Where is Harb? Why cant he issue a press release and tell us what to expect and when?
JackApril 7, 2015 - 6:26 PM
The writer seems keen to waste our time as much as Monem. Why not write about the man’s backers? Isn’t this the real issue? Hariri backs this man and you are willing to waste our time about how absurd he is, a fact that we Lebanese know, while you are intent at avoiding the real issue here. Hariri, Berri, Hezbollah and all of the lot constitute a gang that agrees to disagree, and govern us through these mafioso creatures. Oh, I forgot, Executive is pro-Hariri. Excuse me.
Abdel Moneim Youssef still believes it is the early nineties, where very few understood what is the internet and how it works, and acts like the guy that knows everything brags all day, and slams everyone that shows any sign of understanding or discussing the concept.
He reminds me of the Network administrator at a company where I used to work, he used to act like is the only one that “knows” – and every one else is an tech retard. And acted like he owns the internet and holds the key and deed to everyone’s online existence, doing everyone a huge favor by merely answering their questions.
Well, it’s not the 90’s – and a lot of people in Lebanon have awesome potential in advancing the state of the internet and related services in Lebanon, most are more knowledgeable than Abdel Moneim Youssef, and would actually be keen on doing something to improve it, instead of acting like an ogre that holds the only key to a detention cell. Yes our economy and daily life are held hostage by Abdel Moneim Youssef, who should be sued bey every respectable company, and the people for standing in the way of our own progress. Shame on him and OGERO for not looking past their egos and arrogance and not doing the right thing for Lebanon and it’s people – this is the only way he will be remembered.
Finally, a year later… we have justice, the ogre falls.
jadApril 10, 2015 - 5:23 PM
abdel moneim youssef is protected from any attempt to remove him or arrest him by the same political party his minister harb is affiliated with. the current status will remain as long as harb gives youssef free reign in his job. former minister sehnaoui had endless confrontations with youssef throughout his mandate and people forget why the internet was much better during his time than currently. harb has helped, while doing nothing, to regress the advances made in the sector and let youssef do as he pleases.
JoeApril 11, 2015 - 1:33 PM
When dealing with services for Lebanese citizens, all officials tend to try to use generalization to avoid speaking the horrible reality on how bad this country is treating its citizens in all kind of services even their basic needs such as education were poor citizens are obliged to enter private university and accumulate big debt just because the Lebanese university can’t afford teaching them. Mr. Youssef is just a typical example of a Lebanese official. The current minister of telecommunication, Mr. Harb when asked about how slow the internet is in Lebanon, answered its because people tend to open multiple webpages and applications at same time. At the end, Seem that Lebanese have the right in Lebanon to open one web page at a time and thank officials for providing the miracle of internet and cell phones to us. ironically, we keep electing these same corrupt officials rather then giving them a one way ticket to retire from public service and replace them by proper people who can serve the citizens rather then fill their own pockets.
Comments are closed.
Forgot Password
Please Login
Please Sign up
✅ Registration successful!
Please check your email to verify your account.
7 comments
Very interesting piece… and brutally honest as we’ve gotten used to reading between the lines. This however cracked me up “buying shovels and digging trenches to check for the presence of cables”. It may unfortunately have to come to that.
I really just don’t get it. The 40 min interview could have lasted 15. Why isn’t it on? ” We need to do more work” or “we are waiting for a decision”. Why be evasive? This guy should be fired! Where is Harb? Why cant he issue a press release and tell us what to expect and when?
The writer seems keen to waste our time as much as Monem. Why not write about the man’s backers? Isn’t this the real issue? Hariri backs this man and you are willing to waste our time about how absurd he is, a fact that we Lebanese know, while you are intent at avoiding the real issue here. Hariri, Berri, Hezbollah and all of the lot constitute a gang that agrees to disagree, and govern us through these mafioso creatures. Oh, I forgot, Executive is pro-Hariri. Excuse me.
Abdel Moneim Youssef still believes it is the early nineties, where very few understood what is the internet and how it works, and acts like the guy that knows everything brags all day, and slams everyone that shows any sign of understanding or discussing the concept.
He reminds me of the Network administrator at a company where I used to work, he used to act like is the only one that “knows” – and every one else is an tech retard. And acted like he owns the internet and holds the key and deed to everyone’s online existence, doing everyone a huge favor by merely answering their questions.
Well, it’s not the 90’s – and a lot of people in Lebanon have awesome potential in advancing the state of the internet and related services in Lebanon, most are more knowledgeable than Abdel Moneim Youssef, and would actually be keen on doing something to improve it, instead of acting like an ogre that holds the only key to a detention cell. Yes our economy and daily life are held hostage by Abdel Moneim Youssef, who should be sued bey every respectable company, and the people for standing in the way of our own progress. Shame on him and OGERO for not looking past their egos and arrogance and not doing the right thing for Lebanon and it’s people – this is the only way he will be remembered.
Finally, a year later… we have justice, the ogre falls.
abdel moneim youssef is protected from any attempt to remove him or arrest him by the same political party his minister harb is affiliated with. the current status will remain as long as harb gives youssef free reign in his job. former minister sehnaoui had endless confrontations with youssef throughout his mandate and people forget why the internet was much better during his time than currently. harb has helped, while doing nothing, to regress the advances made in the sector and let youssef do as he pleases.
When dealing with services for Lebanese citizens, all officials tend to try to use generalization to avoid speaking the horrible reality on how bad this country is treating its citizens in all kind of services even their basic needs such as education were poor citizens are obliged to enter private university and accumulate big debt just because the Lebanese university can’t afford teaching them. Mr. Youssef is just a typical example of a Lebanese official. The current minister of telecommunication, Mr. Harb when asked about how slow the internet is in Lebanon, answered its because people tend to open multiple webpages and applications at same time. At the end, Seem that Lebanese have the right in Lebanon to open one web page at a time and thank officials for providing the miracle of internet and cell phones to us. ironically, we keep electing these same corrupt officials rather then giving them a one way ticket to retire from public service and replace them by proper people who can serve the citizens rather then fill their own pockets.
Comments are closed.