Unprecedented: King Mohammed VI Sacks Ministers, Senior Officials following ‘Dysfunctions’ in Al Hoceima Projects

PERSISMA, Rabat – King Mohammed VI received on Tuesday October 24, in Rabat, the first president of the Court of Auditors, Driss Jettou who presented a report containing the conclusions of the Court regarding the Al Hoceima projects “Manarat Almotawassit.”

Following the revealed “serious dysfunctions,” the King decided, in an unprecedented move, to sack a significant number of ministers and high officials.

 

The findings of the report commissioned by the King, on October 2, has clearly established these serious dysfunctions during the tenure of the previous government led by Abdelilah Benkirane.

“At the level of implementation of the programmed projects, there has been a significant delay in the launching of projects, and the vast majority of them have not been launched at all, with the absence of concrete initiatives by some of the actors involved in their actual launch,” said the communique of the Royal Cabinet.

The Ministers who have been sacked are:

Mohamed Hassad, Minister of National Education, former Minister of the Interior in the government of former head of government Abdelilah Benkirane.

El Houssaine El Ouardi, Minister of Health under the governments of Saad Eddine El Othmani and Abdelilah Benkirane.

Mohamed Nabil Benabdellah, Minister of Housing under Saâd Eddine El Othmani and Abdelilah Benkirane.

Larbi Benckheikh, Secretary of State in charge of vocational training, who previously held the position of Director General of the OFPPT.

The King has also dismissed Ali Fassi Fihri, director general of the National Office of Water and Electricity.

Additionally, the King reprimanded five former ministers incriminated by the report:

Rachid Belmokhtar, former Minister of National Education,

Lahcen Haddad, former Minister of Tourism,

Lahcen Sekkouri, former Minister of Youth and Sports,

Mohamed Amine Sbihi, former Minister of Education Culture,

Hakima El Haïté, former Secretary of State in charge of the environment.

The King said he was “disappointed in their performance at their respective ministries and he would never again entrust them with any public missions.”

King Mohammed has asked the head of government to submit a list of proposed replacements for the Ministers who have been dismissed.