Moroccan officials agree transparency and accountability are essential values as Morocco fights against corruption to implement a new development model.
Rabat – As Morocco seeks to conceive and implement a new development model, the fight against corruption and lack of transparency ought to be a national priority, Morocco’s state-owned outlet, MAP, has reported, citing a number of senior officials.
Under the initiative and leadership of King Mohammed VI, the newspaper stressed, the country has sent signals of its commitment to effective public management and transparent governance.
It underlined that such a spirit of transparency and anti-corruption in public management has been made particularly salient in Moroccan public administration since the adoption of a new Constitution in 2011. The new constitution set out to lay the groundwork for democratic consolidation and related values like transparency, good governance, and accountability.
Speaking to MAP, Ahmed Laamoumri, the head of the administrative reforms section at the ministry of economy and finance, said that part and parcel of the new development model is to considerably curb the effects of corruption and lack of transparency in the generation and management of public resources.
He cited a number of post-2011 legislative reforms, including the creation of the Probity Council, the adoption of new laws to fight against corruption and embezzlement, and the adoption of a national strategy for the fight against corruption, as “clear indications” of Morocco’s commitment to transparency and anti-corruption for an effective implementation of its new development model.
Laamoumri spotlighted the adoption of the 10-year National Strategy for the Fight Against Corruption (2015-2025), which, he revealed, was the culmination of recommendations from the UN and a close collaboration between all sectors of the Moroccan government.
Mohammed Bachir Rachdi, the president of the Probity Council, echoed Laamoumri’s points.
According to Rachdi, the institution he presides over was specifically created to promote and maintain transparency and good governance, essential pillars in the North African kingdom’s determination to implement its new development model. Part and parcel of the council’s vision, he argued, is that no development is conceivable without transparency and accountability.
“Inclusive and sustainable development cannot occur where there is heightened corruption and a lack of transparency. That’s why it is fundamental to have a national strategy to considerably curb corruption and limit its effect on the accumulation of national wealth,” he said.
For all the public commitments to fighting against corruption and lack of transparency, Morocco still has a lot on its plate with some old issues still persisting.
Just last week, Moroccan MPs blocked a bill on financial malfeasance and “illicit enrichment,” arguing the bill was “vague” and susceptible to be used by authorities as a witch hunting instrument against MPs deemed critical and “disturbing.”
Meanwhile, the head of Morocco’s High Commission for Planning (HCP), the country’s leading and official authority on statistical data and economic predictions, recently decried Moroccan ministries’ lack of transparency in dealing with data and studies on Morocco’s economic performance.
