Residents of the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh expressed their disappointment over the resignation of the governor Najim Al Jabouri, weeks before the provincial elections.
Mr Al Jabouri submitted his resignation on Sunday after being excluded from running in the elections due to historical links to Saddam Hussein’s now-outlawed Baath party.
“He was the best governor to see and the province was better during his term in terms of the reconstruction and services,” entrepreneur Omar Sinan, 22, told The National.
Several governors had been removed from the province over charges of corruption and mismanagement between 2017, when Nineveh was recovered from ISIS control in a war that left much of it in ruins, and 2019 when Mr Al Jabouri was appointed.
Over the past four years, Mr Al Jabouri, a former military officer, was often seen roaming the city, following up with projects and talking to residents.
“Things had been smooth over the past years in the province,” Aseel Nawar, 32, said. “There no political wrangling or any tensions as everything was focused on how to get the city back on its feet,” Ms Nawar added.
In September, Iraq’s Commission for Accountability and Justice put Mr Al Jabouri on a list of 100 candidates barred from running in the elections due to previous affiliations with the Baath party.
Mr Al Jabouri served as a commander of a military division and a member of the military intelligence during the rule of Saddam Hussein. He took part in the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran War and the 1991 Gulf War and continued in service until the 2003 US-led invasion.
He appealed the decision barring him from standing in October at the Federal Court of Cassation, but it was rejected,
The Cabinet asked the Parliament to vote on excluding Mr Al Jabouri from the commission’s procedures but it failed to do so.
“Given the failure to complete the procedures of my de-Baathification, due to the failure to vote on that in the parliament, I am requesting your excellency to accept my resignation from my position as governor of Nineveh,” he wrote in his resignation letter addressed to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani this week.
Abdul Kadir Al Dakheel appointed governor
Mr Al Sudani accepted the resignation and appointed Abdul Kadir Al Dakheel as the new governor of Nineveh, provincial spokesman Ali Mahmoud told The National on Thursday.
Mr Al Dakheel is a member of the Executive Office of the Committee of Nineveh Reconstruction and the Service and Engineering Team which are affiliated to the Prime Minster's office. He was also an adviser to Mr Al Jabouri.
“This is a great responsibility, and bearing it is essential to make Nineveh bright and prosperous,” Mr Al Dakheel said on Tuesday.
“This is a sensitive period ahead of the [provincial] elections so we have to continue working to serve the people away from any political agenda,” he added.
“Given the special status of the province which has ethnic and religious diversity, the PM picked up a governor with no political affiliations to better serve its residents,” a government official told The National.
'A true patriot'
Mr Al Jabouri took office in 2019 after retiring as a lieutenant general who commanded Iraqi forces during the battle against ISIS for the city of Mosul. He was seen as a US-backed official since the war against ISIS.
The US Ambassador to Iraq, Alina Romanowski hailed Mr Al Jabouri on X, formerly known as Twitter, as a “true patriot, he helped Iraq defeat ISIS and supported reconstruction work”.
Some Sunnis in Iraq see the antiterrorism and de-Baathification laws as a means to target them by Shiite factions backed by Iran, who came to power in Iraq after Saddam's fall.
“All honourable and loyal people have become victims of those whom you allowed to take responsibilities without any right,” Jamal Al Halbousi, a former military officer, wrote in a reply to the US ambassador's statement.
“Has your government realised that those loyal to their country are victims?” he added. “Change will be inevitable whether America likes it or not, Iraq doesn't deserve all these setbacks,” he said.
Mosul is Iraq's second-largest city and the capital of Nineveh province.
It was captured by ISIS in mid-2014, which brought large parts of northern and western Iraq under its influence.
In October 2016 Iraqi security forces backed by a US-led international coalition launched what was then considered one of the world’s biggest urban battles since the Second World War.
They announced the end of combat operations in mid-2017. It took six more months to claim back Mosul and the surrounding areas. In doing so, tens of thousands died, millions were displaced and entire towns and neighbourhoods were destroyed.
Although the scars of war are still in every corner of the city, life has returned to normal in the province and reconstruction is under way.
Iraq's government has set December 18 as the date for the country’s next provincial elections.
Provincial councils play a vital role as the subnational legislative authority, as well as devising localised development plans.
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Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
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