The MP allegedly asked for a sum of money in return for a regular administrative services.
Rabat – Moroccan police arrested Member of Parliament (MP) from the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), Moulay Abderrahim El Kamil, for corruption on Tuesday, January 21.
The MP, who chairs the Ouahat Sidi Brahim commune in the region of Marrakech, is facing charges of corruption after accusations from a Moroccan living abroad, according to a press release from the National Brigade of Judiciary Police (BNPJ).
El Kamil allegedly asked the plaintiff for a sum of MAD 110,000 (more than €10,000) in return for an administrative service.
The complainant, a Moroccan residing in Sweden, intended to build a real estate project of 20 apartments in the commune of Ouahat Sidi Brahim. The suspect allegedly refused to give the investor a building permit unless he pays the required sum.
After the request, the plaintiff pressed charges against the MP and the BNPJ made the arrest after verifying the evidence.
The suspect will remain in custody until the general prosecutor’s office conducts all the necessary investigations.
Soon after the arrest, PAM issued a release announcing the suspension of El Kamil’s party membership. The official will be permanently expelled from the party if he is convicted of the charges against him.
Morocco’s fight against corruption
On the same day, the Moroccan Head of Government, Saad Eddine El Othmani, said Morocco is on the right track in the fight against corruption, at the House of Councillors.
The government is “strongly committed” to fighting corruption, he stipulated.
El Othmani recalled Morocco’s adoption of the UN convention on the fight against corruption in 2007, and of the Arab convention on fighting corruption in 2010.
Morocco is currently operating the 2016-2025 national anti-corruption strategy. The plan includes a program for e-administration, programs for ethics, transparency, and access to information, and a program for public contracts, control, and accountability.
The strategy’s results, however, remain intangible for a large part of Moroccans.
In December 2019, a study revealed that 74% of Moroccans believe the government is not doing enough to tackle corruption and that politicians are actively involved in bribery and corrupt practice.
About 53% of the Moroccans questioned in the survey believe that institutional corruption is on the rise, and more than 31% admitted to paying a bribe in the past 12 months.
