Watan's Destination: This Is How We Honor Hamza Abbas

There is no doubt that the unique economic personality of the late Hamza Abbas, with his weight and value, deserves considerable official and popular honor, given the effort, advice, and stances he demonstrated, which gave a true meaning to the saying that a position is a responsibility, not an honor.

Hamza Abbas’s history is distinguished not only by being the first governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait, or by his earlier role as secretary of the Kuwait Monetary Agency, but also by the value he added to the positions he held through his sound judgment and principled stance. This was evident in his warnings that preceded the climate crisis that shook the Kuwaiti economy, during the crisis, and in the measures that mitigated the crisis’s impact on the banking sector and the economic system, culminating in the advice accompanying the publication of his book “I Advised You” in 2016.

During the launch ceremony of his book, Hamza Abbas expressed his concerns about the government’s expansion in issuing bonds (“public debt”), considering it an ineffective measure for addressing budget deficits, and viewing it as a temporary and partial solution. The real, missing solution lies in comprehensive economic and financial reform. Had the government, along with parliament and politicians, heeded the advice from the 1980s and 1990s regarding the economy, education, and public administration, reform would have been easier and more impactful.

I am not here to eulogize or mourn the late Hamza Abbas; rather, I speak from the perspective of how the man should be honored after his passing. In my view, this does not relate to naming a hall in a government economic or educational facility after him, holding a seminar about his biography, or even incorporating his experience into curricula. The matter is not about protocol-based honors or fleeting courtesy.

True honor lies in adopting Hamza Abbas’s reformist approach to confronting crises before they occur, mitigating their risks, and protecting economic and financial institutions from the consequences of mismanagement, as well as listening to sincere advice even when it contradicts the orientations of executive decision-makers. This is how those with opinion, advice, and experience are truly honored.