Muhammad Hosni Mubarak (1928-2020)

On Tuesday February 25th, Former Egyptian President, Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, passed on at a military hospital in Cairo following a prolonged illness aged 91 years.

He ruled from 14th October 1981 to 11th February 2011 making him the fourth and longest serving President of Egypt in modern times.

Mubarak was Vice-President to Anwar Sadat when the latter was assassinated in a military parade on October 6th 1981 to mark the 1973 October war in which the Egyptian armed forces distinguished themselves creditably against the Israeli Defence Forces.

Before joining politics, Mubarak had a distinguished career in the Egyptian air force as a fighter pilot where he rose to become its commander. He was credited with being one of the masterminds behind the sterling performances of the Egyptian air force during the initial aerial engagements in the 1973 war with Israel in which the Egyptians scored direct hits at Israeli targets.

This earned him recognition and President Anwar Sadat appointed him Vice-President in April 1975. From this position, he became one of the key officials who took part in the discussions and engagements leading to the historic signing of the 1977 Camp David peace accords with Israel brokered by the United States of America.

Mubarak took over from Anwar Sadat as President when Egypt was in a state of turmoil. There was significant and influential body of opinion in the country that were in great opposition to the peace treaty with Israel. Indeed, the assassination of Anwar Sadat by Lt. Slambouli was a clear indication that some elements within the Egyptian military harboured these feelings. In the Arab world, Egypt was isolated having had its membership of the Arab league suspended.

It was to the benefit of Egypt that Mubarak who was an intimate insider to the contemporary developments in the country was at the helm during those trying times. It also helped greatly for Egypt that Mubarak was a calm personality not given to fiery rhetoric and flamboyance. He preferred the quiet, consensus building approach to mending the broken political and social bridges in Egyptian society and in rapprochement with the Arab world on contentious issues. Thus, Egypt was readmitted into the Arab League in 1989.

Mubarak’s time as President of Egypt was also marked by great developmental strides in industrialization, infrastructure, education, health and housing. Overall Egypt also recorded a remarkable boom in economic activities making it one of the emerging markets in the global economy.

He also helped steered Egypt delicately as a key player through some of the momentous events that took place in the Middle-East like the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, the Gulf war and the ever tense relations between Israel and the Palestinians.

However, the remarkable developments which took place in Egypt under Mubarak came with a price. The most visible and significant in this regard was in the alienation of Egyptian youth as the country witnessed a massive population growth. Mubarak’s response to this was to become more authoritarian in trying to address manifestations of restiveness among the classes of Egyptians who felt left out by the uneven economic development taking place in the country.

It was thus no surprise that when the riots erupted in neighbouring Tunisia over similar economic challenges as in Egypt signalling the beginning of the Arab spring, Mubarak’s Egypt was inevitably caught in the path of the storm leading to the Egyptian revolution which swept off Mubarak in 2011.

For us in Africa, Mubarak will be remembered for the positive roles he played in helping to strengthen the African Union. During his time Egypt as one of the major countries on the African continent also sought greater cooperation with individual African countries across all areas. This is especially so with Nigeria there has been an increase in the number of visits and engagements with Egypt covering areas of mutual interests.

While recognising his short comings as a human, for all the positive things he did in his lifetime, we must however pray that Allah grant the soul of Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak peaceful repose in Aljanna firdaus, Ameen.