Morocco’s ambassador to Kenya, El Mokhtar Ghambou, has called upon Kenya, which has been elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (2021-22), to join the US and the African countries which endorsed the kingdom’s proposal for Sahara Autonomy under Moroccan Sovereignty as the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the artificial regional conflict over the Moroccan Sahara.
“Kenya and Morocco play a major role in Africa as leading countries in their respective regions. As a newly elected non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (2021-22), Kenya has all the means to defend the unity of African countries by promoting peace and economic prosperity across our continent. Territorial integrity is as sacred to Kenya as to Morocco,” the Moroccan diplomat pointed out in an interview published Monday by Kenyan newspaper +The Star+.
“After all, our two nations subscribe to the African Union charter of “non-interference by any Member State in the internal affairs of another”. Therefore, I call upon the republic of Kenya to join the US and the African countries which endorsed our Proposal for Sahara Autonomy under Moroccan Sovereignty as the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the artificial regional conflict,” he added.
Ghambou recalled, in this regard, that many Kenyan government officials, members of Parliament, as well as journalists who had the chance to visit the Moroccan Sahara over the past five years, were “surprised” by the Sahara’s remarkable economic and social development.
Since 1975, Morocco invested seven times more for every dirham earned in the region, in addition to subsidising basic goods like oil, cooking gas, tea and sugar, he underlined, noting that the Sahara is slowly turning into a major economic hub on the Atlantic Ocean, with the potential to attract more investors and traders from sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and the Americas.
Moreover, the fact that more than 18 countries opened consulates in the Sahara, and more will do so in future, is one of the best examples of a creative and vigorous Moroccan diplomacy, operating under the visionary leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, the diplomat said.
“Our diplomacy was very successful in exposing the falsifications spread by the Algerian regime and its separatist puppet, especially after Morocco returned to the African Union in January 2017. Morocco forcefully came back to the AU with a solid package of economic and social projects serving our commitment to promote pan-African cooperation,” he pointed out.
Regarding the proclamation of the US administration to recognise Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara, the diplomat said it is the result of an accumulation of historical and political events, “all of which bear witness to a longstanding friendship treaty as well as a modern strategic and economic partnership between our two countries.”
The diplomatic influence of the US as a major Security Council member will most likely put an end to this regional conflict fabricated by Algeria to serve its own narrow political interests, the ambassador added, noting that the US plan to invest in the Moroccan Sahara will not only benefit Morocco’s southern regions but the profit will extend to the Sahel region and to sub-Saharan Africa.
Commenting the restoration of relations between Morocco and Israel, the diplomat said that “the kingdom of Morocco is a 14-century-old nation, not a country carved out of a modern colonial map. No one can force us to make a decision of which we are not fully convinced.”
The Moroccan constitution recognises Jewish heritage as an integral component of our national plural identity, he said, adding that “close to one million Jewish-Moroccans live in Israel today and their spiritual rights are protected by His Majesty’s historical status as Commander of the Faithful.”
In addition, restoring diplomatic ties with Israel will certainly give Morocco more leverage to push for a two-state solution and put an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he noted.
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