Assahafa.com
Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit has issued a firm warning against illegal appropriation of land belonging to local authorities or embezzlement of public funds.
Laftit made his remarks during a parliamentary review of the Interior Ministry’s 2026 budget on Wednesday.
“Anyone who has seized land or even a single dirham will have to return it- whether they do so willingly or by force,” Laftit said, noting that authorities have begun investigating similar cases in Casablanca.
Laftit emphasized that these investigations will expand to reach all regions across Morocco, adding that anyone involved in similar crimes will not go unpunished.
“There are several problems that have arisen with these lands, and from here, I want to send a message. We are holding people accountable, and let me be clear: anyone who has taken land, a project, or anything that was not theirs, we will not let it go. We will go back through the entire past to hold these people accountable, just to be clear,” Laftit added.
Earlier this week, the ministry released data outlining a series of legal proceedings against 300 locally elected officials.
The review shows that the Ministry of the Interior referred 52 municipal presidents and 57 vice-presidents to courts specializing in financial offenses this year. Those presented to the court also included 124 municipal councillors as well as 69 former local authorities.
The ministerial report added that 137 elected officials, including 43 municipal presidents, 49 vice presidents, and 22 former presidents, were prosecuted in 2024.
Moroccan newspaper Assabah reported on Wednesday that the legal proceedings have reached an “unprecedented level in holding elected officials accountable.”
The same source stated that Morocco’s General Directorate of Local Authorities has been closely monitoring the legal proceedings.
The measures also affected the legal status of the officials, and could lead to their removal from electoral lists, the same source said, adding that the directorate reviewed 216 requests for dismissal of elected officials brought before administrative courts.
“63 communal council members, including 20 presidents, 36 vice-residents, and 7 members of professional chambers, have been removed from office,” the newspaper added.
Source: Morocco word news
