Corruption in Morocco persists despite reported decline

04/10/2007

Morocco improved its ranking by seven places in Transparency International's 2007 study on corruption, but the fight against the phenomenon is far from over.

By Naoufel Cherkaoui for Magharebia in Rabat – 04/10/07

[Transparency.org] In its latest rankings, Transparency International increased its rating of Morocco from 3.2 to 3.5 out of 10.

Germany-based Transparency International (TI) has ranked Morocco 72nd out of 180 countries, according to the group's 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index. Morocco earned a 3.5 rating out of 10, up from 3.2 (79th place) in the 2006 report.

In an interview with Magharebia, Transparency Morocco Secretary-General Ezzeddine Aqsabi said that TI's improved ranking of Morocco acknowledges certain achievements Morocco has made in the past year, such as the ratification of the United Nations Anti-Corruption Treaty and the approval of the establishment of a Central Authority for the Prevention of Corruption, as well as draft legislation to oblige officials to declare their personal assets.

Aqsabi said the new ranking is not of major importance, as "the classification can change when the classified country's condition hasn't changed. This is the result of the change of the number of countries included in the study, which was 63 last year and 180 countries this year."

Regarding proposed solutions to curb corruption in Morocco, Aqsabi said "The law must be applied; the corruption oversight mechanism must be activated; the judicial system must be reformed; and severe penalties must be imposed on those engaged in corruption in order to alleviate the intensity of the phenomenon."

"What we have seen is that corruption is being perpetuated in a horrible way," Mohamed Tariq Esbaai, President of the National Authority for the Protection of Public Funds told Magharebia. To illustrate his claim, he cited the "negative neutrality adopted by the state in the recent parliamentary elections; something that shows that the outgoing government was not determined to get rid of corruption."

Esbaai said that although individual citizens are the first victims of corruption, they are largely unable to fight it. He stressed the need for a clear political decision and for a zero-tolerance principle in order to limit the spread of corruption.

The outgoing prime minister has pledged since 2005 to enter into talks with all parties involved in the combating of corruption. An electronic portal for public services was created to improve interaction between citizens and the state by making certain administrative services directly available. The website also includes legal texts to inform citizens of their rights, echoing information centres in public establishments, companies and ministries. The government has also partnered with civil society organisations to launch anti-corruption media campaigns.

The most important step the government has taken recently is the judicial pursuit of people who violated anti-corruption laws during the campaign for the September 7th elections. Violations included public administration corruption and embezzlement of public money, which many Moroccans believe to be rampant among the country's authorities.

One citizen told Magharebia, "You can't get any administrative paperwork done without paying a bribe." He added that Morocco has wasted many foreign investment opportunities because of this phenomenon, which has become "an ordinary matter" on the Moroccan street.