Three sovereign institutions-the armed forces, the General Intelligence, and the Interior Ministry- have raced in distributing and supplying commodities among the citizens in Cairo streets through distributing “Ramadan cartons”, but each institution raised a different slogan.
In a large number of governorates, many trucks belonging to the Egyptian armed forces have stopped to sell meat and goods at a lower price than the market’s as well as organizing kiosks (small booth) in the squares for selling goods. In addition, they distributed “Ramadan cartons ” in Upper Egypt and the Delta with the logo “Long live Egypt” and set Ramadan tables offering food and drink for people in Ramadan in more poor conditions areas.
On the other side, the General Intelligence has distributed thousands of Ramadan cartons on many citizens in different provinces in coordination with the ministers of social solidarity and supply. It raised the slogan of “Guarded Egypt”.The carton included various basic commodities as “rice, sugar, pasta, food oil, dates, beans, tea, cheese, and other commodities” which is similar to the armed forces Ramadan cartons. However, the General intelligence has sent medical convoys to the poorer villages in Upper Egypt along the distribution of food.
Also, the ministry of interior has distributed nearly 4,000 cartons in the first three days of Ramadan. It included;”rice, sugar, oil, and dates and pasta, tea, soap”, but they were smaller in quantity than the than cartons offered by the general intelligence. The ministry of interior printed on the cartons the logo”safety”, as well as installing kiosks in some areas and squares to distribute aid, goods, and products related to the ministry. The Egyptian newspaper, al-Masry el Youm, stated that it seems that there is coordination between the three sovereign institutions for not distributing the aids in the same places.
Since the military coup in 2013 that ousted the first democratically elected president Mohammed Morsi, the security state has strongly returned to the Egyptian scene which is reflected in the social and economic services offered by those institutions to the public. The civilian institutions and its services have been monitored and administred under the umbrella of the state security agencies.
