Iraq's Electricity Minister replaces Al-Diwaniyah distribution chief
Shafaq News- Al-Diwaniyah
Iraq's Electricity Minister Ali Saadi has dismissed the head of the Al-Diwaniyah Electricity Distribution Branch, Muslim Khudair Bari, replacing him with Salam Aref Karim, previously head of the branch's subscriber affairs department, according to an official ministry order.
The change is the latest in a wave of personnel decisions reshaping the electricity sector following the arrest of Alaa Samir Rashed al-Jubouri, director general of the Central Electricity Distribution Company, on corruption charges. Al-Jubouri, also a senior figure in the Taqadum party, was detained by the Federal Commission of Integrity on Saturday over alleged corruption and misuse of public funds; an anti-corruption court subsequently ordered all his movable and immovable assets frozen.
On the same day as al-Jubouri's detention, Minister Saadi moved to remove two of his deputies. Alaa Abdel-Hussein Abd Imran was relieved on the grounds that his professional classification as a petroleum engineer was incompatible with the administrative post he held, with Haider Mohammed Jawad named as his replacement. Tariq Ibrahim Khalil, deputy director general for distribution affairs, was also removed; Ahmed Khalaf Abdullah was assigned in his place.
Read more: 40-GW electricity gap forces Iraq to back private generators
Earlier in the week, the ministry dismissed the head of the Al-Karkh electricity sector alongside three officials in Abu Ghraib, while the Finance Ministry terminated the contracts of two employees and transferred an additional 70 Baghdad staff for negligence. On June 2, the Integrity Commission detained four senior electricity officials over an alleged 1.744 billion-dinar ($1.33 million) scheme involving stolen electrical equipment in Diyala province.
A government source told Shafaq News that further changes at the Central Electricity Distribution Company are expected within hours or days.
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