Rabat – Aicha Guellaa, a lawyer and former member of parliament, has been appointed minister delegate in charge of administrative reform in Morocco’s new government led by Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri.
King Mohammed VI appointed Guellaa on Friday. She will serve under Ahmed Rahhou, the newly appointed Minister of Artificial Intelligence, Digital Transformation and Administrative Reform.
Her appointment brings a lawyer with experience in parliament and civil society into a government portfolio focused on improving public administration and making government services more accessible to citizens.
From law to politics
Originally from Kasbat Tadla, Guellaa studied private law in Meknes before pursuing a master’s degree in notarial law and civil litigation at Mohammed V University in Rabat.
She has worked as a lawyer at the Casablanca Bar since 2004 and is authorized to plead before Morocco’s Court of Cassation, the country’s highest court for civil and criminal appeals.
Her career has combined legal practice with political engagement. She joined the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) during her school years and later became involved in the party’s student and women’s organizations.
In 2007, Guellaa entered the House of Representatives after being elected through the USFP’s national list. She served as a member of parliament until 2011 and participated in several parliamentary committees, including the committee responsible for interior affairs, decentralization, and infrastructure.
She also served on the USFP’s National Council and the national bureau of its women’s organization.
Advocacy for victims’ rights
Beyond her legal and political work, Guellaa has been involved in initiatives supporting human rights and equality between women and men.
In 2021, she founded the Moroccan Association for Victims’ Rights (AMDV), an organization that provides legal, psychological, and moral support to victims of criminal offences, particularly in cases involving sexual assault and harassment.
She serves as the association’s president. The organization aims to help victims navigate legal proceedings and access support during difficult cases.
Guellaa has also represented women bringing complaints in several high-profile legal cases involving journalists, academics, and business figures. Her work in these cases has brought her into public debates about victims’ rights and the treatment of complainants within the justice system.
Alongside her professional work, Guellaa is pursuing doctoral studies at Mohammed V University in Rabat. Her academic interests add to a career spanning legal practice, parliamentary work and civil society initiatives.
A new role in government
Guellaa takes office as Morocco continues efforts to simplify administrative procedures, improve public services and make government institutions more accessible.
Administrative reform has remained a challenge across successive governments, with initiatives focusing on reducing paperwork, digitizing services, and improving coordination between central and local authorities.
Her responsibilities will fall under a ministry that now brings artificial intelligence, digital transformation, and administrative reform together under Rahhou, the former president of the Competition Council.
The government has appointed Guellaa specifically to oversee administrative reform, separating that responsibility from the broader digital transformation portfolio.
Her legal background and experience dealing with citizens’ cases may be relevant to questions of administrative procedures, access to public services and relations between citizens and state institutions. However, the government has yet to outline specific reforms she will lead.
