Mostafa Hussein Kamel

Mostafa Hussein Kamel (born 23 March 1960) is the former Egyptian Minister of State for Environmental Affairs. He was sworn into Prime Minister Hesham Qandil's cabinet, the Qandil Cabinet, on 2 August 2012, following the 2011–2012 Egyptian revolution that deposed President Hosni Mubarak,^[1] retaining his position from former Prime Minister Kamal Ganzouri's interim government. He was one of the independent ministers in the cabinet.^[2]

Early life and education

Mostafa Hussein Kamel is the son of Hussein Kamel Bahaa El Din, who served as the Egyptian minister of education under the then President Hosni Mubarak.^[3] Kamel was born in Beni Suef, Egypt, on 23 March 1960.^[2][4]

Kamel attended Cairo University, which he graduated from in 1981 with a bachelor of science degree in geology and in 1989 a Ph.D. in geophysics.^[4]

Non-political career

Kamel is a geophysicist^[5] and taught as a professor at Cairo University's science department. He also served as the director of Cairo University's Centre for Combating Environmental Hazards and the Basel Regional Center for Training and Technology Transfer across the Arab Region from 2 August 2010 until 6 December 2011. From 19 July 2003 until 8 October 2011, Kamel served as Chairman of the Geophysics Department, Faculty of Science at Cairo University as well as the geophysics branch at the university.^[1]

Political career

Kamel was sworn into former Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri's interim government, which was established after the Egyptian revolution of 2011–2012.^[3] In doing so, he replaced Maged George, who had served as the minister since 2004.^[1]

He retained this position in Prime Minister Qandil's Qandil Cabinet, after the Salafi Al-Nour Party declined the position, believing it to be an "insult" and not important enough.^[5] He was sworn into the cabinet on 2 August 2012.^[1] A number of environmentalists were dismayed over his appointment, believing that he cannot address Egypt's environment, which they said is in a "critical state" and Egyptians cannot waste "time with leftover government officials." Following his appointment to the ministry, some environmentalists who view the ministry as dangerous to the environment have proposed dismantling the ministry altogether.^[5] In a cabinet rehuffle on 5 January 2013, Kamel was replaced by Khaled Abdel Aal.^[6]

Nature reserves visit

In early August 2012, Kamel paid a visit to certain nature reserves located in the Sinai Peninsula. The purpose of the visit was to listen to workers' demands and complaints regarding the reserves, which would be incorporated into an attempt to change the maintenance of these reserves, with an independent body that is affiliated with Egypt's Environmental Affairs Ministry controlling the reserves. In addition, Kamel stressed the importance of decentralization, and also promised to work and fix the problems that the workers at the reserves voiced.^[7]

References