The National Union of Users of the National Library of the Moroccan Labor Union has expressed its astonishment at the terrible silence that characterizes the Ministry of Youth and Culture’s handling of serious developments related to the results of the report of the Inspection Committee of the Ministry’s General Inspectorate, regarding the wholesale administrative violations committed against the National Library of the Kingdom of Morocco. And financial and professional corruption that seriously damaged the reputation of the institution and its employees as a cultural educator who is supposed to play essential roles in improving the Kingdom’s cultural image and strengthening the Kingdom’s cultural diplomacy.
The users of the National Library, and with them the national public opinion, are still awaiting with great anticipation the intervention of the Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication in the matter, and his fulfillment of his pledge before the National Union of Users of the National Library and before the Moroccan Federation for Employment in the Council of Advisors, which is his commitment to take the necessary measures as soon as he receives the report of the investigation committee that was dispatched On his part, to examine the institution’s finances and investigate suspicions of corruption and breaches known to the administrative, financial and professional management.
Indeed, the Minister, not long ago, came up with a black report on the National Library, which includes serious data that cannot be tolerated in any way, but rather requires judicial follow-up, pursuant to the principle of linking responsibility to accountability, which His Majesty has been calling for since his ascension to the throne of his two ancestors. Especially since the director of the National Library, “Muhammad Al-Fran,” previously stated to Al-Sabah newspaper on December 26, 2022 that he is “ready to take responsibility if the inspection committee confirms his involvement in suspicions of corruption or the like.” Then, what the National Union previously described as suspicions of corruption and mismanagement turned into To a tangible and confirmed fact revealed by this report, so that the question remains open about the secret behind the failure to take any practical measures in this matter by the concerned authorities until now!!?
From this standpoint, the National Union questioned the usefulness of such shocking reports in light of the lack of serious interaction with their contents, in the context of arranging responsibilities and taking appropriate measures, considering this unjustified silence as a clear cover-up, which granted a kind of reassurance to the director of the institution, and enabled him with additional space and time. It made him go further in his administrative, financial and professional practices outside the framework of the law, and perhaps the completion of the last deal related to the purchase of lithographs in a semi-deteriorating condition at a value of about 80 million centimeters free of taxes, without resorting to the bidding procedure that urges the implementation of the principle of competition, and in the absence of the need The urgent need for it compared to the extreme necessity imposed by the acquisition of new issues of books and magazines in response to the urgent needs of the patrons of the National Library, “which has not been done in 5 years,” knowing that a significant percentage of these copies are already available in the institution’s stores, in addition to double, if not The lack of demand for it by students and researchers is conclusive evidence of the extent of the institution’s director’s disregard for the oversight bodies and his indifference to the serious reports issued by them.
The Syndicate also inquired about how these lithographs that were previously presented to the National Library free of charge in the form of donations or donations were transformed into buying and selling operations, and about the authority that determined the institution’s urgent need for such purchases as well as their financial value, on the one hand, but on the other hand, the The National Union of Users of the National Library, which is eagerly following up on the work of preparing the National Library’s canteen, prompted the famous Moroccan proverb “lack of curiosity is forbidden, the religion of gourmets” to question the extent of the eligibility of an unknown company in the field of restaurants to win this deal, whose financial value remains meager. In view of the institution’s location and its legal value within the local and national affairs, noting that the canteen remained closed for more than three years under the pretext of not receiving suitable offers that rise to the required level, according to a previous statement by the institution’s management!! Do you think this company has the necessary experience and expertise to manage a canteen the size of the National Library canteen, and not others with great experience in this field? Then how can the director of the National Library declare on more than one occasion in official meetings and before opening the envelopes of the request for offers related to this deal, that the services that this company will provide for the benefit of users with regard to meals and their prices will be at the high level!? And what about the equipment that was acquired through an application document for the benefit of this company?
As a result of all of the above, the Syndicate affirmed that it hurts itself, while examining and counting the size of the tangible and immaterial losses that the institution is exposed to, and the price of which is dearly paid by the users of the National Library in light of the delay in the intervention of the concerned authorities to take the necessary measures to deter the aggressive behavior of the director of the institution despite his black record full of scandals. Despite the multiplication of the number of judicial prosecutions against him, whether by female employees or employers, or by contractors and other partners, due to lack of respect for the law, extortion of national contractors, and the absence of oversight and accountability. It suffices here to mention one point that we had alerted to its seriousness before it was confirmed by the report of the scrutiny committee, which gives a strong motive to expedite taking strict measures in order to implement the constitutional principle that requires linking responsibility to accountability. Rehabilitation of the National Library at an amount of 18 million dirhams, which the director of the institution defended in several media outlets, and he is the one who does not even have a license to practice the profession of a studies office!!
What prompted the director of the institution, then, to mortgage the fate of a building the size of the National Library in the hands of a fictitious office of studies through a request bond in the amount of 14.5 million centimeters without asking him to present the accreditation certificate that was received by the Ministry of Equipment and Transport!!? And who signed the minutes of receipt of the assignment book, and the rest of the documents completed by this office, which were approved in opening the request for proposals for the deal of reformatting the institution???
