Mauritania’s anticorruption investigation of former president Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz is motivated by a broadly shared effort to frustrate the former president’s apparent desire to return to power. Ould Abdel Aziz’s unpopularity with the military, political class, and Mauritanian population has unified the elite behind a judicial push that could put him behind bars. He was taken into custody on allegations of corruption on August 17 and released on conditional bail on August 24.
Ould Abdel Aziz came to power in 2009 following a coup he helped orchestrate in 2008. The extent of his greed and drive to enrich himself was widely known. One civil society leader, who requested to remain anonymous after a September 2020 WhatsApp interview with the author, went as far as to say, “Ould Abdel Aziz . . . is power-hungry, aggressive, and won’t give up unless he is stopped.” During his ten years in office, he shielded himself from accountability despite calls from the opposition to investigate corruption. He supported President Mohammed Ould Ghazouani as a successor, hoping Ould Ghazouani would be a puppet. But from early on the new president—who took office in August 2019—indicated his break with the former president.
Staggering Levels of Corruption and Cronyism
The National Assembly announced the creation of the Parliamentary Inquiry Committee (PIC) in January 2020 to investigate suspect government contracts that were concluded during Ould Abdel Aziz’s time in office. The commission, composed of members of the opposition and of the ruling party, seems to have conducted its investigation largely free of interference. It examined a number of projects including infrastructure projects worth $1.14 billion, the container and hydrocarbon terminal at the Port de l’Amitie of Nouakchott, and the construction and management of fishing complex in Nouadhibou, among other deals. The committee’s findings revealed that senior state officials colluded with beneficiaries in the sale of public land, awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal concessions, and made staggering profits through partnerships, for example with foreign fishing companies that engaged in tax evasion at the expense of the local fishing communities.
After the report’s release in late July, a government reshuffle on August 6 removed six officials, including three who were named or implicated in the report—although the secretary general of the presidency announced that anyone cleared of wrongdoing could regain their post.
Many of the investigated deals seem to have benefitted Ould Abdel Aziz, his immediate family, and several close associates. An example is the controversial sale of 80 percent of the shares of F’Derick mine. The mine has 30 million tons of iron ore—valuable, given that mining accounted for more than half of Mauritania's export earnings in the late 1990s. The PIC revealed that Ould Abdel Aziz’s son-in-law Mohamed M’Sabou was involved in the sale, which apparently took place without the approval of the National Company of Mining and Industry’s board of directors. The deal shows Ould Abdel Aziz’s willingness to capitalize on the country’s natural resources for personal gain. The former president’s government also allocated 3.5 million square meters (3.8 million square feet) of property to eighteen fake companies, violated the public procurement code in a number of infrastructure projects, and flagrantly violated regulations on project management through awarding infrastructure contracts to public companies that passed assets onto Ould Abdel Aziz’s family and political allies.
A Slew of Attempts to Wrest Back Power
One of the reasons for the investigation is that Ould Abdel Aziz has shown clearly that he hoped to remain part of Mauritania's politics after he left office. Once out of power, Ould Abdel Aziz tried to remain in the leadership of the ruling Union for the Republic (UPR) party—which he founded in 2009. In November, Ould Abdel Aziz convened and chaired a meeting with the UPR’s interim management committee to discuss a plan for him to maintain his influence and a role within the party. A few days after the meeting, twenty-two out of twenty-seven committee members responded by signing a statement recognizing Ould Ghazouani as the party’s leader instead. Ould Ghazouani swiftly moved the UPR’s general elections up several months and buttressed his position further by securing leadership posts for his allies.
Meanwhile, Ould Abdel Aziz was also maneuvering to mobilize parliament against Ould Ghazouani. In an attempt to take over the ruling party, he claimed it was unconstitutional for Ould Ghazouani to head the UPR. Ould Abdel Aziz also pronounced that the Muslim Brotherhood had infiltrated the new government, and even attempted to take control of a smaller party, the Socialist Democratic Union Party, to gain a political foothold. According to long-running rumors, he also tried to wrest control over the presidential guard, the Bataillon de Sécurité Présidentielle. After these attempts, Ould Ghazouani undertook a major shakeup of his security detail and military leaders to distance figures close to or associated with the former president.
The Current President’s Balancing Act
Although Ould Abdel Aziz has lost the support of key military leadership—who at the end of his second term reportedly refused to support him for a third mandate and convinced him to peacefully hand power over—still Ould Ghazouani faces somewhat of a balancing act. On the one hand, if the current president fails to put a clear end to his predecessor’s maneuvers, the former president may continue his efforts to worm his way back into power, potentially using old terrorist networks, militias, factions within the military, and those disenchanted with the current regime. On the other hand, if Ould Abdel Aziz is imprisoned and stripped of his wealth, members of his tribe (the Oulad Bou Sbaa tribe) may object out of tribal solidarity, possibly mobilizing sympathizers to create unrest.
This unprecedented anticorruption campaign has revealed the unbounded greed of Ould Abdel Aziz and the desire of the current elite to prevent his return to power. In a September 2020 WhatsApp interview with the author, UPR spokesman Sidi Amar Chikna put it this way: “The situation is more than just pushing out a former president with an unsound and unpopular ambition. It is that his vision . . . does not serve stability, does not represent democratic transition, and does not suit the country right now.” While the campaign does not signal broader efforts to increase government accountability, it nonetheless demonstrates what can be done when there is a unified political front to maintain stability and adherence to established political process.
Comments(4)
Despite the strong will displayed by the new president to fight corruption and the campaign against the former president, the bigger and critical issue which still remains silenced is the racial problem.
In Mauritania, an urgent and growing claim from a certain national and international public opinion to President Ghazouani to stop wasting time to delay the prosecution of those involved in embezzlement and high treason during the last decade of his predecessor's regime. The government has just decided curfew and coronavirus lockdown and announced distributing billions to people, coincidentally, why not, to calm down what can be calmed facing this other pressing and growing demands to stop wasting time to delay the prosecution of those involved in embezzlement and high treason during the last decade of his predecessor's regime. However, calming this last request will only be for a little respite. Its treatment is not like that of Coronavirus. It is better to be realistic for the public interest and avoid exposing the country to short-, medium- and long-term risks. Mr. Minister of Justice, Minister of the Interior, your responsibility is to alert the President of the Republic to the seriousness of the situation instead of encouraging him to pass the time to delay the prosecution of those involved in the case of the last decade. A collective of about 60 lawyers led by the Bâtonnier (President) of the Bar, the famous and undisputed Attorney Brahim Ebety, has been constituted to defend the Mauritanian state in order to recover public property misappropriated during the last decade. This collective includes almost all the tenors of the Nouakchott bar, including several former Bâtonniers (Presidents) of the Bar accustomed to major trials such as Yaghoub Diallo and Diabira Marouffa.
Continued 1 from first comment above. On the other hand, Lawyer Taleb Akhiar ould Mohamed Maouloud defends the so-called gabegie case of the last decade. The fact that people like him or others like Lawyer Ould Chidou or administrator like Sidi O. Ahmed Deya and a few others ... defend, directly or indirectly, people involved in this embezzlement of the century, is a little disturbing. They probably have reasons that we do not yet measure enough. It is certain that these personalities will not put on their conscience the defense of the perpetrators of the embezzlement of the last decade, the magnitude of which is unprecedented in the history of the country and in the sub-region. We rely on the conscience of these people, their sense of public interest and their patriotism not to continue to defend the indefensible. The current legal treatment of the case is a matter of "form" - at the courts of common law or at the High Court - it does not matter. The form is certainly important. But, the "substance" matters most in determining whether someone, morally, can approach or distance from the perpetrators of the case. The substance of the case is obvious: the scale of this case of the last decade is unprecedented in the history of the country and in the sub-region. The damage of the last decade has happened under everyone's eyes. No one among civilians and the military has ever taken a real risk of preventing it except few journalists and bloggers or perhaps also the late former president Ely, and his entourage, who knew well that his cousin's adventure in the last decade could have only an unfortunate end for all. Unlike the late Ely, none of those who were in the former president's system (majority and opposition) was taking any real risks to avoid what happened.
Continued 1 from first comment: On the other hand, Lawyer Taleb Akhiar Ould Mohamed Maouloud defends the so-called gabegie case of the last decade. The fact that people like him or others like Lawyer Ould Chidou or administrator like Sidi O. Ahmed Deya and a few others ... defend, directly or indirectly, people involved in this embezzlement of the century, is somewhat troubling. They probably have reasons that we do not yet measure enough. It is certain that these personalities will not put on their conscience the defense of the perpetrators of the embezzlement of the last decade, the magnitude of which is unprecedented in the history of the country and in the sub-region. We rely on the conscience of these people, their sense of public interest and their patriotism not to continue to defend the indefensible. The current legal treatment of the case is a matter of "form" - at the courts of common law or at the High Court - it does not matter. The form is certainly important. But, the "substance" matters most in determining whether someone, morally, can approach or distance from the perpetrators of the case. The substance of the case is obvious: the scale of this case of the last decade is unprecedented in the history of the country and in the sub-region. The damage of the last decade has happened under everyone's eyes. No one among civilians and the military has ever taken a real risk of preventing it except few journalists and bloggers or perhaps also the late former president Ely, and his entourage, who knew well that his cousin's adventure in the last decade could have only an unfortunate end for all. Unlike the late Ely, none of those who were in the former president's system (majority and opposition) was taking any real risks to avoid what happened. Now, President Ghazouani not only continues to protect and keep the people of the previous decade, but also he begins to bring them reinforcements by appointing as heads of the boards of directors of large public companies, the new road maintenance company ETER (ENER) and Mauritel, people symbols of mismanagement. For ETER(ENER), Didi Ould Biyé was in charge of budget and finances in the period of the former regime of President Maaouiya O. Taya. It seems that he was the equivalent of Moctar Ould Diay today in the last decade with all that entails. It seems that "Didi Ould Biyé, in the period of Maaouiya Taya’regime", was exactly the lookalike of "Moctar Ould Diay in the last decade". Thus, President Ghazouani will currently have two "Moctar Ould Diay" in his regime. One at the company SNIM and the other on the company ETER (ENER) board of directors. For Mauritel, the former minister of the interior in the last decade, Ould Abdallah had been involved in the management of the affairs of the last decade even though he is not known to be in any obvious case of mismanagement. President Ghazouani has a terrible fright and embarrassment that inhabits him. He has kept this fear of his predecessor since he served with him as Chief of Army. This same fear had led him to keep power well for his predecessor when he was ill and in hospital for a long time in 2012. The same fear forced him to accept when his predecessor asked him to run for presidential elections in 2019. The same fear now forces him to pass the time to delay the prosecution of those involved in the case of the last decade. Everyone hoped that Ghazouani would finally have courage and abandon the attitude of fear and hesitation that inhabits him. His way of protecting the interests of his predecessor of the last decade is neither in the interest of his predecessor and it is dangerous for Ghazouani himself and for the nation. The impact of this is likely to occur in the medium and long term in boomerang. Under the extent of the damage, the country has sagged but has not yet collapsed. Hopefully he can get up, but... but... but, the problem is that those who have caused the damage of the last decade, there are still others in our country who have exactly their profile, their education, their level, their worries. And these people of the same profile as him, as them, will say that it is feasible, that they must also achieve exactly the same feat as the boyfriend who was of the same kind as them, of the same profile, who did not think he could or should one day be in charge of public affairs at such a high level. So these people of the same profile will do everything to have their decade, their turn as President of the Republic, with a loyal partner as chief of the army staff and achieve greater feats (damage) to have a fortune at least equal to that amassed in the previous regime. Friends compare each other. And this time, that decade, the country will not only sag, it will collapse. Unless there is a jump from somewhere. It will collapse on the rest of us, on everyone including those of the damage of the last decade and those of the same profile who will come to do the same thing tomorrow or the day after as soon as they find that the previous damage has gone unpunished despite their magnitude, or that the perpetrators have been able to keep all or part of what they have hijacked. By keeping only a part of what they have hijacked, they are always winners and it is motivating for this kind of people to go on the adventure. اللهم لا تؤاخذنا بما فعل السفهاء منا
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