In a remarkable political scene, the Ministerial Council chaired by King Mohammed VI in Rabat carried a decision that observers considered a direct blow to the Head of Government and former Minister of Agriculture, Aziz Akhannouch, when a clear royal directive was issued stating that the task of supervising and distributing aid to farmers would be entrusted to committees under the supervision of the Ministry of Interior, and not the Ministry of Agriculture as usual.<\/p>\n
Despite the technical wording of the official statement, the background and timing of the decision lead to a deeper political reading, especially in light of the \u201clivestock aid\u201d scandal that shook public opinion last year, when 18 intermediaries benefited from more than 1.3 billion dirhams in a suspicious distribution operation, described from within the government itself as unethical.<\/p>\n
Has Akhannouch lost one of his strategic keys?<\/strong> Has the King lost trust in the Ministry of Agriculture\u2019s ability to manage aid files free of favoritism and corruption?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Are we witnessing the beginning of the end of the \u201cAkwa system\u201d domination over state apparatus?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n What messages are being sent domestically and internationally about the limits of overlap between political authority and economic interests?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Minister of Interior… a new player in a sensitive social file<\/strong> The \u201cfraqchia\u201d scandal… the last straw for \u201cAkhannouchism\u201d?<\/strong> The bigger question: has Akhannouch\u2019s political countdown begun?<\/strong> The Palace\u2019s signal \u2013 even if not stated explicitly \u2013 clearly says that the mixing of responsibility and personal gain will no longer be tolerated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In a remarkable political scene, the Ministerial Council chaired by King Mohammed VI in Rabat carried a decision that observers considered a direct blow to the Head of Government and former Minister of Agriculture, Aziz Akhannouch, when a clear royal directive was issued stating that the task of supervising and distributing aid to farmers would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2832,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,38,76],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2853","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-africa","8":"category-royal-activities","9":"category-the-maghreb"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2853"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2853\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2854,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2853\/revisions\/2854"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
When a sensitive file like farmer aid is withdrawn from the Ministry of Agriculture \u2013 which Akhannouch headed for decades and where he oversaw his “Green Plans” \u2013 and handed over to the Ministry of Interior, several questions arise:<\/p>\n\n
Assigning the supervision of agricultural aid to the Ministry of Interior, led by Abdelouafi Laftit \u2013 known for his strict administrative approach and distance from Akhannouch\u2019s economic circles \u2013 implies a new balance in managing sovereign social files. This is a shift in governance logic that may pave the way for broader changes in the handling of sensitive files, especially those related to food security and territorial justice.<\/p>\n
The scandal of sheep aid, exposed by Nizar Baraka, Minister of Equipment and Water, did not go unnoticed. When the echoes of corruption reach the royal palace, it means red lines have been crossed. It is telling that the Ministry of Agriculture was stripped of its prerogatives in official silence but under the strong moral presence of the royal institution, hinting that politics in Morocco is sometimes managed through unspoken signals that are clear to those who understand the context.<\/p>\n
Since his appointment as Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch has moved within a protected sphere, placing his close associates \u2013 businessmen, company directors, and even secretaries \u2013 in key ministerial and institutional positions. But is this model still acceptable in Morocco 2025, where economic and social crises are worsening and calls for accountability and economic justice are rising?<\/p>\n