Kirkuk Education Directorate and Kirkuk University: overpriced purchases, a bribery arrest of the director general and two-year sentences (from 2018 to 2023)
In September 2019 the Integrity Commission seized the papers of the Kirkuk Education Directorate's purchase of 300 appliances and generators, bought although a committee member objected to inflated prices. In January 2020 it seized 88 payment documents of Kirkuk University worth IQD 11.7 billion, citing overpricing and split purchases also noted by the Board of Supreme Audit. On 21 July 2020 a judge ordered the arrest of the director general of the directorate and the members of its pricing committee over the maintenance of its equipment; KirkukNow named him as Abid Ali Hussein (Shafaq News: Abd Ali Hussein Tuama), and the directorate denied there was a warrant. On 15 November 2020 the Commission arrested the director general on a charge of taking money to give a section head post; he was released on bail of IQD 10 million. On 22 November 2020 it said the Kirkuk Criminal Court had sentenced a former director general and a contracts employee, over overpriced 2018 purchases, and a former president of Kirkuk University and its legal director, to two years each. Warrants for 23 people followed in February 2021, and summonses of a director general (2022) and two former university presidents (2023).
- Period
- From 2018 to July 2023
- Sector
- Education and public worksProvincial education directorate and public university procurement (Kirkuk)
- Kind of case
- Criminal prosecution
- Jurisdiction
- Federal Iraq
How the money moved
Purchases and maintenance at inflated prices, split purchases to avoid the rules, and money taken in return for posts, according to the Integrity Commission and the courts.
What happened
Two years each for a former director general and a contracts employee of the directorate, and for a former president of Kirkuk University and its legal director (November 2020). The serving director general was released on bail (November 2020). No verdicts are on record for the 2021 warrants or the 2022 and 2023 summonses as of 19 October 2026.
Open questions
- Outcome of the bribery charge against the director general, and of the July 2020 warrant.
- Names of the former director general and the former university president sentenced in November 2020.
- Outcome of the February 2021 warrants against 23 people and of the 2023 summonses.
People and companies
| Name | Role in the case | Legal status | Detail | As of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Former director general of the Kirkuk Education Directorate and a contracts employee (unnamed) مدير عام سابق لتربية كركوك وموظف في قسم العقود (لم تُذكر أسماؤهما) | Former director general and an employee of the contracts department, Kirkuk Education Directorate | Convicted (reported) | Sentenced by the Kirkuk Criminal Court to two years' imprisonment each for deliberately damaging public money through overpricing by the 2018 procurement committees (Integrity Commission statement relayed by Shafaq News, 22 November 2020). Not named. | 19 October 2026 |
| Former president of Kirkuk University and its head of legal affairs (unnamed) رئيس جامعة كركوك السابق ومدير القسم القانوني فيها (لم يُذكر اسماهما) | Former president and head of the legal department, Kirkuk University | Convicted (reported) | Sentenced in person by the Kirkuk Criminal Court to two years' imprisonment each for deliberately damaging state funds (Integrity Commission statement relayed by Shafaq News, 22 November 2020). Not named in the statement. | 19 October 2026 |
| Twenty-three people of the Kirkuk Education Directorate, including a former director general and committee heads (unnamed) 23 شخصاً في مديرية تربية كركوك بينهم مدير عام سابق ورؤساء لجان (لم تُذكر أسماؤهم) | Former director general and heads and members of the specification, bid analysis, purchasing, quotation and maintenance committees | Charged or wanted | Summonses, arrest warrants and search orders under Article 340 over purchases that did not meet specifications and were overpriced; three were arrested, including the heads of the maintenance and quotation committees, and released on bail (Integrity Commission statement relayed by Shafaq News, 17 February 2021). Not named; no verdict is on record as of 19 October 2026. | 19 October 2026 |
| Abd Ali Hussein Tuama (Abid Ali Hussein) عبد علي حسين طعمة | Director general of the Kirkuk Education Directorate (from 2019 to 2020) | Released on bail | On 15 November 2020 the Integrity Commission arrested the director general of the Kirkuk Education Directorate on a charge under Article 307/1 of the Penal Code of taking money in return for giving a section head post; the judge released him on bail of IQD 10 million (statement relayed by Alsumaria). The Commission did not name him; KirkukNow named him as the head of the directorate in July 2020 (as Abid Ali Hussein) and reported that Abd Ali, the head of the directorate, had been released on bail (16 November 2020). On 21 July 2020 an arrest warrant had been issued for the director general and the pricing committee over the maintenance of the directorate's equipment; the directorate denied it. No verdict is on record as of 19 October 2026. | 19 October 2026 |
| Director general and heads of planning and supervision, Kirkuk Education Directorate, in 2022 (unnamed) المدير العام لتربية كركوك ومديرا قسمي التخطيط والإشراف التربوي في 2022 (لم تُذكر أسماؤهم) | Director general and two department heads (in September 2022) | Under investigation | Summoned by the Kirkuk investigation court under Article 331 of the Penal Code for leaving contracted lecturers off the lecturer lists and not paying their dues (Integrity Commission statement relayed by Shafaq News, 6 September 2022). Not named; the sources do not say whether this director general is the one in PER-0402. | 19 October 2026 |
| Former and earlier presidents of Kirkuk University (two people, unnamed) رئيسا جامعة كركوك السابق والأسبق (لم يُذكر اسماهما) | Former presidents of Kirkuk University | Under investigation | Summoned by the Kirkuk integrity investigation court under Articles 331 and 340 over the project to furnish the university, and the earlier president also over the removal of a five-a-side pitch built for IQD 49 million two months earlier to make way for shops (Integrity Commission statement relayed by 964media, 14 July 2023). Not named; the sources do not say whether either is the president sentenced in 2020 (PER-0404). | 19 October 2026 |
Sources
- Alsumaria News (Integrity Commission statement)23 September 2019Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة تضبط مخالفات وهدراً في المال العام بتربية كركوك
Original addressإقدام المديرية على شراء (300) جهاز ومولدة كهربائية، على الرغم من اعتراض أحد أعضاء لجنة جلب العروض؛ لوجود مغالاة في الأسعار
- Alsumaria News (Integrity Commission statement)14 January 2020Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة: ضبط مستندات صرف بقرابة 12 مليار دينار في جامعة كركوك
Original addressهذه المخالفات تم رصدها في تقرير ديوان الرقابة المالية الاتحادي أيضاً، وأن قيمة مبالغ المستندات التي تم ضبطها بلغت (11,698,383,549) مليار دينار
- Alsumaria News (Integrity Commission statement)21 July 2020Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة: صدور أمري قبض واستقدام بحق مسؤولين اثنين في كركوك وكربلاء
Original addressبإصدار قاضي التحقيق المُختصِّ أمر قبضٍ بحقّ المدير العامِّ لتربية محافظة كركوك وأعضاء لجنة التسعير فيها، استناداً إلى أحكام المادَّة (340) من قانون العقوبات
- Alsumaria News (Integrity Commission statement)15 November 2020Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة الاتحاديَّة: تنفيذ أمر قبض لمدير عام تربية كركوك بتهمة الرشوة
Original addressموضوع التهمة تمثل بإقدام المُتَّهم على أخذ مبالغ ماليَّةٍ مقابل منح أحد المناصب (مسؤول قسم) في المديريَّة ... قرَّر القاضي إخلاء سبيله بكفالةٍ ماليَّةٍ قدرُها عشرة ملايين دينار
- Shafaq News (Integrity Commission statement)22 November 2020Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
Prison sentences for former Iraqi officials
Original addressthe Kirkuk Criminal Court had sentenced the former Director-general of Kirkuk's education department to two years in prison ... the former president of the University of Kirkuk and the director of the legal department therein
- Shafaq News (Integrity Commission statement)17 February 2021Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
صدور أوامر قبضٍ واستقدامٍ بحق مسؤولين بتربية كركوك
Original addressأوامر استقدامٍ وقبضٍ وتحرٍّ وفق أحكام المادَّة (340) من قانون العقوبات بحقّ (23) شخصاً، من بينهم المُدير العامُّ السابق لتربية المُحافظة
- Shafaq News (Integrity Commission statement)6 September 2022Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
النزاهة: استقدام مدير عام تربية كركوك
Original addressأمر استقدام بحق المدير العام لتربية مُحافظة كركوك ومُديري قسمي التخطيط التربوي والإشراف التربوي فيها
- 964media (Integrity Commission statement)14 July 2023Official statement reported by the mediaTier B
استقدام رئيسين سابقين لجامعة كركوك بتهمة إحداث ضرر بالمال العام
Original addressأصدرت أمراً باستقدام رئيسي جامعة كركوك السابق والأسبق، في قضيَّة المُخالفات المُرتكبة في مشروع تجهيز الجامعة بالأثاث
- Shafaq News12 December 2019Press reportTier D
الحشد الشعبي يصدر توضيحا على مدير تربية كركوك ويمهله 24 ساعة للرد
Original addressمؤتمر صحفي عقده مدير عام تربية كركوك، عبد علي حسين طعمة
- KirkukNow22 July 2020Press reportTier D
Several officials in Kirkuk to face trial on corruption charges
Original addressThe arrest order includes the head of Kirkuk’s Education Department, Abid Ali Hussein. ... denying the existence of an arrest warrant
- KirkukNow16 November 2020Press reportTier D
Scores of government officials under investigation, tens of others sentenced
Original addressAbd Ali, the current head of Kirkuk Education Directorate, are released on bail.
Related cases
- Kirkuk governor Rakan al-Jubouri: warrants, a travel ban, and a 2025 arrest and bail (from 2018 to 2025)
- Nineveh Education Directorate: IQD 139 billion of saved salaries handed out outside the rules, deductions through a private bank, an overpriced car contract and ghost employees (from 2017 to 2026)