The province of Ibb, historically known as the "Green Governorate" and the capital of Yemeni tourism, has been reduced to a facade for one of the most egregious forms of "coup economy" plaguing areas under Houthi militia control. Beneath its enchanting landscapes and sprawling agricultural terraces, a dark economic engine worth hundreds of billions of riyals operates, managed by a complex network of sectarian leaders and Houthi affiliates, both those who have arrived from the militia's strongholds in the far north and loyalists from within the province itself. The province has transformed due to the record-breaking and exorbitant rise in land and real estate prices, making it the most valuable real estate in all of Yemen. This has attracted the avarice of the militia's first and second-tier leadership. According to insider information and statistics closely related to the militia's operations in the province, these leaders have succeeded in forming a cross-institutional financial and investment lobby, leveraging their security, military, and usurped public service influence to convert public resources and state assets into private property and colossal commercial ventures. At the forefront of this financial lobby is the Houthi affiliate Qassem Al-Masawi, who holds the position of Undersecretary of Ibb Province for Oil, Gas, and Industry. Al-Masawi exemplifies the fusion of militia authority with illicit trade. Since his appointment to this critical role, he has tightened his grip on the petroleum derivatives and domestic gas sectors, commodities most closely tied to citizens' daily lives and the most prolific generators of quick cash through crisis manipulation and supplying parallel markets. Documented data indicates that Al-Masawi's personal wealth derived from this sector has skyrocketed. He now possesses a vast portfolio of real estate and land in vital urban planning areas of Ibb city and its surroundings, valued in the billions at the old currency rate. This extends beyond fixed real estate assets to continuous cash flows, as he nets approximately four million riyals monthly in direct, net income from unofficial oil and gas sales and distribution. To ensure the continuous flow of these millions and protect them from rival Houthi factions, Al-Masawi relies on a private security system led by one of his relatives and in-laws, named "Abu Ahmed Al-Saffad." Al-Saffad is known locally for his criminal record, but the militia, in line with its policy of using criminal elements to intimidate society, appointed him to a sensitive security apparatus in a rural district of Ibb. Al-Saffad's specific and stringent tasks include managing collections, monitoring monthly financial receipts from fuel stations and gas suppliers, and imposing extortion on traders through brute security force. Al-Saffad's security role in rural Ibb has become a shield for his relative, the Undersecretary's, illicit investments and a tool to suppress any grumbling or complaints from station owners or local distributors, clearly demonstrating how security institutions are manipulated to serve the private pockets of supervisors. The second pillar of this formidable financial lobby is the Houthi leader Yahya Al-Qasimi, appointed by the militia to the so-called Grievance Redressal Authority in Ibb Province. In a stark paradox, this authority, which the Houthis claim was established to ensure justice for citizens and resolve disputes, has been transformed into an instrument for extorting legitimate landowners and facilitating the confiscation of state and endowment properties for the benefit of influential leaders. Al-Qasimi has exploited his oversight position to build a vast private investment empire. Leaked information confirms he now owns and manages over five major investment projects, ranging from luxury hospitality and hotels to commercial centers, markets, and large malls recently constructed in the province. Perhaps most notable among Al-Qasimi's financial activities is his covert and undeclared partnership in the Ibb Tourist Resort, one of the largest recreational and tourist projects in the province. This coerced partnership serves as a form of militia protection for the project, granting the Houthi supervisor a share of profits and stock in exchange for keeping other supervisors from extorting original investors or imposing security and tax harassment upon them. Joining this financial alliance as a key pillar is the self-proclaimed Undersecretary of Ibb Province for Technical Affairs and Public Works, Abdul Wahed Al-Marou'i, who emerges as one of the most dangerous financial and real estate magnates in the province, ranking third among the wealthiest and most influential leaders. The danger of Al-Marou'i's role lies in his direct control over urban and structural planning for streets and neighborhoods, his authority over road construction, building permits, and technical supervision. Al-Marou'i exploits these powers to intentionally alter urban plans to serve his personal interests, thereby increasing the market value of lands he has previously purchased or acquired shares in, while the properties of ordinary citizens are destroyed and bulldozed through the creation of fictitious roads that consume their land if they refuse to comply with extortion. Abdul Wahed Al-Marou'i's investments have not been limited to the real estate and land market; they have extended to monopolizing heavy and service goods markets by establishing a vast network of modern car showrooms, import and sales centers for spare parts, and construction equipment, benefiting from customs and tax exemptions and extensive influence to pass his private trade. Observers of Yemeni affairs pose a fundamental question regarding the reason for the Houthi leaders' escalating, frenzied greed for the land and real estate sector in Ibb specifically. The answer lies in the unique demographic and economic characteristics of this province. Ibb is the primary source of Yemeni expatriates in the Gulf states and various countries worldwide, with millions of dollars flowing monthly as remittances. These expatriates prefer to invest in purchasing land and building real estate in their hometowns, driving land prices to record levels that sometimes exceed real estate prices in Arab and European capitals. Added to this is the high population density and the massive waves of displacement that the province has received from conflict zones, creating unprecedented demand for apartments and commercial shops and doubling rental values. Furthermore, the fertile and vast endowment land areas in Ibb represent easy prey for the newly established Houthi Endowments Authority, where they are seized and leased at nominal prices to sectarian leaders for the construction of their private investments. This systematic erosion of the local economy in Ibb province, and the replacement of the traditional private sector with a lobby of supervisors and Houthi affiliates, carries catastrophic repercussions for the future of the province and Yemen as a whole. It is no longer limited to plundering state revenues and depriving employees of their salaries; it has evolved into a process of demographic and economic engineering aimed at concentrating wealth in the hands of a specific group, turning the original landowners into mere laborers or tenants. Moreover, the fierce conflict among Houthi factions themselves over these properties and collections threatens to explode the fragile social peace in the province. Ibb has repeatedly witnessed bloody armed clashes, resulting in casualties among factions affiliated with supervisors from outside the province and factions of local Houthi affiliates, due to disputes over the division of plundered lands and oil and gas sales revenues. This illustrates how the state of extortion is fully exploiting the humanitarian tragedy of Yemenis to build private business empires for warlords. |
