Dubai's king makes spot check at work, fires nine people

The city’s ruler paid a surprise morning visit to the offices only to find that many senior employees were late to work

Nine senior officials at Dubai’s municipality were ordered to retire a day after the city’s ruler paid a surprise morning visit to the offices only to find that many senior employees were late to work.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s decree didn’t link the removals to the visit but said it was prompted by his “keenness to give way to a new generation of young leaders capable of bearing the responsibility of development for the next phase,’’ state-run WAM news agency reported late Monday.

A 14-second video showing the 67-year-old Dubai ruler walking into empty offices as he conducted spot checks of three large and ordinarily busy government departments was widely shared on-line.

In a Twitter post on Monday, he praised Jameela Al Muhairi, United Arab Emirates minister for public education, who was at work three weeks after giving birth.

The ruler, who is also the vice president and prime minister of the UAE, was known to conduct spot checks in the early years of developing Dubai into an international financial and tourist hub.

He was also known for sending undercover agents to government departments to test their responsiveness to client needs.

Bloomberg