Over the last ten years, most lucrative governmental business contracts were given to the inner circle of the ruling government. When I say the inner circle, I don’t directly mean the ruling family, but rather them, along with those who work under their umbrella.
Believing that building the inner circle is more important than building the country has resolved into being the biggest crises the country has faced in decades.
A simple example in this aspect is that of the Gas (LNG) contract Yemen signed with different international companies including the French (Total) and the South Korean (KOGAS). Media outlets have proof and strong evidence that a major corruption scandal took place when the contract was signed between the Yemeni government and international gas companies. The price of the sold Yemeni LNG is the cheapest in the history of gas contracts throughout the world, and lawmakers and attorneys in Yemen are gathering more information and names of officials who personally benefited from the signed contract and caused the country to lose billions of dollars.
Those who are benefiting from current corruption scandals stand out and claim that independent media outlets are destructing the country for talking about such topics. On the other hand, those who see corruption taking place and stay quiet are considered the wise and the ones who love their nation.
Meeting with numerous leading officials in the ruling party this week, I realized that they are also fed up with the corruption that is taking place within the inner circle.
With poverty rates reaching over 50%, a rebellion in the north, a separatist movement in the south, Al-Qaeda spreading throughout, the inner circle still believes Yemen is going in the right direction. In my opinion, they are surely the destroying factor of the country, and soon their names will be released with concrete evidence against them.

ABOUT Yemen Post Publisher & Chief Editor:

Hakim Almasmari is an American journalist and Middle East expert based in Sana'a, Yemen. His work has appeared for many of the worlds top media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Washington Post, AlJazeera, Fox News, The Guardian, The National, USA Today among numerous others. He has also worked with some of the world’s top organizations. Reporting out of Yemen for nearly eight years, he is the current editor in chief for the Yemen Post. He is a university lecturer in the field of international media and also studied business and law. Considered one of the top experts on Yemen, Almasmari has closely worked with international strategic centers and think tanks helping them better understand Yemen. He is a frequent guest on many international TV outlets discussing current local and international affairs. Almasmari's ancestors are from Yemen, and was born in Detroit, Michigan, USA. His mother tongue is English and is fluent in Arabic.