Interview: Local official Mbarka Bouaida responds to allegations

The region of Guelmim Oued Noun has recently been shaken by several scandals of alleged embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds, including “suspiciously inflated” invoices for simple works.

Violently accused by the opposition within the local Council, its president Mbarka Bouaida came out of her silence to respond to the allegations, in an attempt to overcome a “communication deficit” that she readily acknowledges.

Guest of Tuesday’s broadcast of Hespress, Bouaida discussed all the controversies that have marred the region of Guelmim Oued Noun in recent weeks, but also the development projects conducted and planned in this region of the southern Kingdom.

What is happening in Guelmim Oued Noun, against the backdrop of the political difficulties experienced by the presidency of the region since 2015?

Mbarka Bouaida first wanted to recall the context of this controversy, namely “a context of development of all regions of Morocco and in particular that of Guelmim Oued Noun that I have the honor to preside.

“There are indeed political tensions that the region has known for some time, but today we have overcome several obstacles and we have begun the process of development, “she said.

Returning to what she called “outings attributed to the opposition against the person of the president and the work of the council of the region,” Bouaida said that these are “things that I consider to be normal in the political work and political career of any president of the region especially that today they (presidents ed.) have a prominent position in the political landscape.

For Mbarka Bouaida, the region of Guelmim Oued Noun, “is managed in a normal way, in accordance with the regulatory laws of the regions, in accordance with the laws in force, under the control of dedicated institutions, and therefore in my opinion it is a populist opposition because there is no squandering of public funds or violations.

It has, in this sense, sent a message to public opinion and residents “to reassure them and tell them that there is no squandering of public funds and that, on the contrary, there is success in the management and that there is a great political vision in the Council of the region for development, investment and equipment.

Reacting to the development that have known things, with the complaint filed with the court in Marrakech, the president of the region of Guelmim Oued Noun, said he has “evidence necessary to counter and respond to these accusations.

Obviously,” she said, “any official is ready to interact with this kind of complaint before the financial crimes court. And as I said at the beginning, personally I am calm because the management system in the Council is transparent and is subject to the institutions of control. We are therefore ready to interact with any complaint within the legal framework.

In detail, it is recalled that the council of the region, and therefore its president, are pointed to tenders for the painting of the main roads in the region. The opposition advances an amount of about 10 billion cents.

Again, Bouaida calls to place things in context. “The region of Guelmim Oued Noun has approved, during the last session of the mandate, July 2021, a contract program between the State and the region of an amount of 5.4 billion dirhams and this contract program covers 37 projects and among these structuring projects there is the rehabilitation of the facades of the 4 main cities, namely Guelmim, Tan Tan, Sidi Ifni and Assa Zag. It is a project that we consider insufficient particularly because of the budget we have allocated for the first tranche, 300 million dirhams, including 200 million as a contribution from the region and 100 million from the Ministry of Housing,” she said.

And to note that “the Council has approved unanimously, and the region has begun to implement this part of the project within the 200 million that have been allocated. In addition, in this project we have partners including the Ministry of Housing, Al Omrane, the communal councils in the cities, the prefecture and the Wilaya, which follow all these projects. There is a technical committee that includes all partners and they ensure the implementation of all aspects contained in the program and it is a global project that contains not only the painting of roads but also sidewalks, lighting etc..”

“So we have executed the first stage of this project since the technical study has been completed, nothing more,” she said, ensuring that “everything happened in total transparency, with a specification developed for this purpose by the technical committee whose members are mostly from the Ministry and Al Omrane. So we do not have the hand on this file there, and on the contrary, I find that it has been developed in a correct manner in a healthy and regulatory framework.”

Unfortunately, deplored Mbarka Bouaida, “there has been a devaluation of this work and attempts to mislead public opinion, and it is true that when we hear that 10 billion cents were used for painting, we wonder why painting when in reality it is a facade and street decoration etc..”

On the second part of the accusations against the council of the region and its president, that of the tender on the feeding of 9,000 guests, Bouaida called these allegations “dangerous and aimed at confusing public opinion about what happens in the region.”

“The budget of the region is intended to more than 80% to equipment, investment and major projects and it is not a partial budget for food on the one hand, and on the other hand, the Council of the region has approved, under 2022, a budget and there is talk of 5 million dirhams of food and it is not consumed in two months but over the whole year and today, less than half of the budget allocated for this purpose has been “used”, and therefore these figures on 9000 people are totally wrong and illusory, “said the President of the Council.

“The role of the region is developmental and strategic par excellence, in other words, we are laying the groundwork to build a strong, integrated region that will reach the same level as other Moroccan regions.”

In the same vein, Mbarka Bouaida believes that “misinformation and confusion have multiplied and I confess that personally and the Council has not communicated (in the face of the outcry) because we have many occupations for development. The path of development and construction is very difficult and we do not see its results today. We are building to have results in 5 years and more”.

On the subject of this discussion around food and gifts etc., she said she wanted to clarify two points:

“The first is that in 2022, and here we are not yet talking about 2023, the expenses that the Council has approved did not exceed 17% of the general budget, which means that 83% of the budget goes to investment, and the expenses of the council in total, with food and gifts, does not exceed 50% of the 5 million dirhams allocated,” she noted.

As for the second element of the answer, she said that there have been agreements between the majority members and the members of the council so that there is a kind of flexibility with the events and activities that the council and the region knows. This means,” explains the president, “that there are a number of activities organized by the council and others in which the council has contributed and which have taken place in the communes under the region, and that it cannot ignore them because they have social and economic impacts for the local populations and therefore the regional council must participate. And the fact is that we do not communicate around these contributions.”

To conclude, Mbarka Bouaida will have these words: “I do not want to make comparisons with other regions at this level but I can attest that the spending of the region Guelmim Oued Noun are one of the lowest of the regions in general,” before calling on the population and national public opinion to “lend no credence to these false allegations without any basis, and to keep confidence, because it is this confidence that will allow to drain investment and develop the region which is promised a real boom in the future.”