Rabat- Minister of General Affairs and Governance Mohamed El Ouafa has released his income history since he was a student, as a response to the member of opposing party Istiqlal and the editor-in-chief of the daily Al Alam, who had challenged him to make a public declaration of his salary.
Mohamed El Ouafa, former member of the Istiqlal party and the current Minister of General Affairs and Governance, presented a press release to many Moroccan news websites on Monday, in which he announced his monthly income since he was a student.
Hespress, a news website which received a copy of the press release, reported that El Ouafa announced his salary in the context of a controversy which broke out between him and the parliamentary member for the Istiqlal Party, Abdullah Bakkali.
Mohamed El Ouafa declared his income in response to Abdallah Bakkali, who “challenged the Minister to make a public declaration of his assets,” reported Hespress.
On Monday afternoon, Mohamed El Ouafa responded to the request of Mr. Bakkali by publishing a list of his assets since he was a student at the Mohammed V University School of Law in 1968, up to today.
According to the press release presented by El Ouafa, as a student he lived on the university’s Agdal campus, and “was receiving a monthly scholarship of MAD 200 ($24 US)”
In 1967, El Ouafa became a university professor. This position allowed him to earn a “salary of MAD 3,000 ($360 US),” according to the press release. Between 1977 and 1997, El Ouafa worked in parliament, where “he was earning monthly salaries franging rom MAD 10,000 ($1,228 US) to MAD 30,000 ($3,685 US).”
According to the same source, the minister owns two apartments, the first located near the Hotel El Mouahidine in Casablanca; the second was acquired as part of a real estate program called Jardins Dar Es Salam, which will be signed over to him in 2015.
“El Ouafa‘s family has two cars, and they currently live in an apartment owned by his wife, in Hay Tayyarat, Youssoufia district in Rabat,” said the press release.
Mohamed El Ouafa reported his current salary as a minister, stating that he earns “MAD 56,000 ($6,879 US) since he was appointed a minister in the second Abdelilah Benkirane Government.”
Edited by Jessica Rohan