Morocco king in new push to fight corruption

RABAT – Morocco’s King Mohammed VI appointed on Monday the four members of the National Authority for Integrity and Prevention and Fight Against Corruption in a new push to fight graft.

“These Royal appointments aim at completing the composition of this national institution and enabling it to assume the missions conferred to it by the Constitution, in particular in the fields of the implementation of the policies of fight against prevarication, the contribution to the moralization of the public life and the enshrining of the principles of the good governance, the culture of the public service and the values of the responsible citizenship,” said the Royal Palace in a statement.

“They also take place pursuant to the provisions of the Constitution and the new law governing this important constitutional body, as well as with regard to the experience, expertise and skills that these members have in the field of action of the Authority, and the impartiality, neutrality, rectitude and integrity for which they are known,” it added.

They four members include Abdeslam Imani, Nadia Annouz and Dounia Ben Abbas Taarji and Abdessamad Saddouq.

The monarch also appointed Ahmed Laamoumri as Secretary General of the Authority and Bachir Rachdi as its chairman.

Morocco scored 39 points out of 100 on the 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International.

“Morocco’s consistently below-average CPI score attests to a severe and systemic level of corruption that has led to social services being neglected, increasing the precariousness of livelihoods and worsening the impact of increased poverty,” said Transparency International in its 2021 report.