Public Procurement Scandals Under Scrutiny
Recent data from reports submitted by the "Internal Affairs" departments across the Casablanca-Settat, Rabat-Salé-Kénitra, Fès-Meknès, and Marrakech-Safi regions have raised alarms within the Ministry of the Interior. These reports highlight a troubling trend involving mayors and councilors, both seasoned and newly elected, exploiting companies owned by themselves or their relatives to secure lucrative public contracts that amount to staggering sums of money. Sources with insider knowledge have revealed to Hespress that these reports document a growing dominance of what are referred to as "mayor-owned companies" in a significant number of contracts awarded by regional, provincial, and local councils. This scenario indicates an indirect control of these councils by senior elected officials, who delegate actual management to trusted partners or family members.
The findings indicate that intermediaries and close associates of council presidents have been making substantial guarantees, such as blank checks, to ensure the sharing of financial gains and to avoid potential disputes among the colluding parties. Alarmingly, the reports from the Ministry contain serious data regarding newly established companies, which previously lacked the necessary financial or technical capabilities but have swiftly evolved into major players benefiting from extensive privileges, thanks to what sources describe as "collusion" in the public procurement bidding processes worth billions of centimes.
Concerns Over Competition and Transparency
According to information gathered by the newspaper, the documented practices extend across several regions, including some southern provinces, where political figures own multi-sector companies that have benefited from public contracts. There have been reports of the exclusion of other competitors despite the principles of competition and transparency mandated by public procurement decrees. In particular, reports from the Fès-Meknès region highlight a notable political figure transforming into a primary actor in acquiring municipal contracts by establishing companies in the names of close associates to benefit from contracts awarded by councils they lead or those governed by political allies.
These recent reports coincide with heightened scrutiny from the Ministry of the Interior regarding public procurement processes within territorial communities, driven by concerns over the impact of such practices on the principle of equal opportunities and the transparency of public fund management. Moreover, these actions have negative repercussions on the competitive landscape for businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises that find themselves excluded from most advertised public tenders.
It is worth noting that oversight bodies, including the General Inspectorate of Territorial Administration and financial inspection services, face challenges in establishing direct links between elected officials and the benefiting companies due to the legal and formal arrangements that render ownership indirect. However, covert investigations at various territorial administrations have uncovered what can be described as "shocking" data, likely leading to the opening of accountability files against numerous elected officials and their accomplices. This is especially pertinent given that the benefit from these contracts has persisted for years, yielding significant financial returns. Previous reports from central inspection committees associated with the General Inspectorate of Territorial Administration have noted unnecessary clauses in municipal contracts. Upon reviewing the technical and financial offers from competitors, it was revealed that some technical requirements were only met by a limited number of companies, repeatedly identified in the records of successful bidders for specific councils.
As reported by hespress.com.
