{"id":366,"date":"2025-10-29T10:25:34","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T09:25:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.13emregion.com\/?p=366"},"modified":"2025-10-29T10:25:34","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T09:25:34","slug":"16-billion-dirhams-up-in-smoke-paper-flour-exposes-deep-corruption-in-moroccos-subsidized-wheat-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.13emregion.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/29\/16-billion-dirhams-up-in-smoke-paper-flour-exposes-deep-corruption-in-moroccos-subsidized-wheat-program\/","title":{"rendered":"16 Billion Dirhams Up in Smoke: \u201cPaper Flour\u201d Exposes Deep Corruption in Morocco\u2019s Subsidized Wheat Program"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1089\" data-end=\"1900\">Sixteen billion dirhams blown away in the mills of public subsidy\u2026 A political bomb exploded inside Morocco\u2019s Parliament when Ahmed Touizi, head of the Authenticity and Modernity Party group, revealed that the so-called \u201cnational subsidized flour\u201d might, in some cases, be nothing more than <strong data-start=\"1382\" data-end=\"1397\">paper flour<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"ar\" dir=\"rtl\">\u0627\u0644\u062e\u0628\u0632 \u0627\u0644\u0630\u064a \u0646\u0623\u0643\u0644\u0647&#8230; \u0644\u064a\u0633 \u0643\u0645\u0627 \u0646\u0639\u062a\u0642\u062f: \u0641\u0633\u0627\u062f \u064a\u0644\u062a\u0647\u0645 16 \u0645\u0644\u064a\u0627\u0631 \u062f\u0631\u0647\u0645 \u0645\u0646 \u062f\u0639\u0645 \u0627\u0644\u062f\u0642\u064a\u0642! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/DjFSOW31wZ\">pic.twitter.com\/DjFSOW31wZ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; \u0627\u0644\u0645\u063a\u0631\u0628 \u0627\u0644\u0622\u0646 Maghreb Alan (@maghrebalaan) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/maghrebalaan\/status\/1983445632628265413?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 29, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1089\" data-end=\"1900\">Behind this shocking claim lies a broken subsidy system \u2014 one that has lost its social mission and turned into a playground for rent-seeking and corruption.<br data-start=\"1557\" data-end=\"1560\" \/>With <strong data-start=\"1565\" data-end=\"1594\">over 16.8 billion dirhams<\/strong> spent and oversight nearly absent, the burning question remains: <strong data-start=\"1660\" data-end=\"1748\">who is truly consuming the subsidy money, and who grinds the truth before the grain?<\/strong><br data-start=\"1748\" data-end=\"1751\" \/>This is no longer about tainted flour \u2014 it is about a state mechanism that feeds <strong data-start=\"1832\" data-end=\"1863\">the machinery of corruption<\/strong> more than it feeds social justice.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"371\" data-end=\"462\"><strong data-start=\"375\" data-end=\"462\">When Bread Becomes Paper: The \u201cFlour Scandal\u201d That Shakes Morocco\u2019s Trust in Itself<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"464\" data-end=\"732\">In what was meant to be a legislative debate, Moroccan MP <strong data-start=\"522\" data-end=\"538\">Ahmed Touizi<\/strong> from the Authenticity and Modernity Party detonated a political bomb in Parliament.<br data-start=\"622\" data-end=\"625\" \/>He accused certain companies of <em data-start=\"657\" data-end=\"730\">\u201cgrinding paper and selling it as subsidized flour meant for the poor.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"734\" data-end=\"1053\">It was not a verbal slip, but a statement that reopened an old wound in Morocco\u2019s social body \u2014 <strong data-start=\"830\" data-end=\"852\">the wound of trust<\/strong>.<br data-start=\"853\" data-end=\"856\" \/>When people begin to doubt the food on their tables, it means confidence in institutions, in oversight, and in the State as the guardian of dignity \u2014 before mere subsistence \u2014 has begun to crumble.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1055\" data-end=\"1387\">Between those who see Touizi\u2019s words as a belated alarm over a decaying subsidy system, and those who read them as populist rhetoric seeking to ride the wave of social anger, one question lingers:<br data-start=\"1251\" data-end=\"1254\" \/><strong data-start=\"1254\" data-end=\"1387\">Can Moroccans still trust the flour they eat, when they no longer know where it comes from, what it contains, or who controls it?<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1394\" data-end=\"1442\"><strong data-start=\"1398\" data-end=\"1442\">From Subsidized Flour to Crushed Support<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1444\" data-end=\"1747\">For years, the subsidized flour system has been one of the most opaque chapters in Morocco\u2019s social policy.<br data-start=\"1551\" data-end=\"1554\" \/>The supposed beneficiaries complain about poor quality, lack of transparency, and favoritism in distribution, while certain companies continue to enjoy public funds without real accountability.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1749\" data-end=\"2062\">Touizi\u2019s recent revelations merely tore open a long-sealed truth.<br data-start=\"1814\" data-end=\"1817\" \/>Both the <strong data-start=\"1826\" data-end=\"1870\">Moroccan Consumer Protection Observatory<\/strong> and the <strong data-start=\"1879\" data-end=\"1915\">Moroccan Center for Human Rights<\/strong> have called for an official investigation, arguing that this affair transcends food safety \u2014 it strikes at the very heart of <strong data-start=\"2041\" data-end=\"2059\">social justice<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2064\" data-end=\"2259\">In Morocco, bread is more than food \u2014 <strong data-start=\"2102\" data-end=\"2131\">it is a symbol of dignity<\/strong>.<br data-start=\"2132\" data-end=\"2135\" \/>And when that symbol is tainted, it is not the dough that collapses, but the collective trust that binds a society together.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2266\" data-end=\"2324\"><strong data-start=\"2270\" data-end=\"2324\">Between Justice and Politics: Who Holds the Truth?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2326\" data-end=\"2626\">The <strong data-start=\"2330\" data-end=\"2362\">National Federation of Mills<\/strong> was quick to react, vehemently denying the accusations.<br data-start=\"2418\" data-end=\"2421\" \/>But the denial alone did little to erase the deep-seated suspicion rooted in the Moroccan collective memory \u2014 a memory shaped by repeated scandals of food fraud and corruption in public subsidy management.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2628\" data-end=\"2904\">Hence, the call for a judicial investigation emerged as a moral necessity.<br data-start=\"2702\" data-end=\"2705\" \/>The Consumer Observatory urged the Public Prosecutor to hear Touizi and demand evidence to substantiate his claims, noting that such serious allegations cannot hang in the air without verification.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2906\" data-end=\"3066\">And if these accusations prove baseless, another question arises:<br data-start=\"2971\" data-end=\"2974\" \/><strong data-start=\"2974\" data-end=\"3066\">What is the moral cost of turning the poor man\u2019s bread into a tool of political theatre?<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"3073\" data-end=\"3110\"><strong data-start=\"3077\" data-end=\"3110\">Between Dough and Dysfunction<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"3112\" data-end=\"3409\">The scandal extends far beyond hygiene \u2014 it exposes a <strong data-start=\"3166\" data-end=\"3188\">structural failure<\/strong> in Morocco\u2019s welfare model.<br data-start=\"3216\" data-end=\"3219\" \/>For decades, the State has relied on intermediaries to manage social aid, leaving the true beneficiaries marginalized and opening wide the door to abuse and misappropriation of public funds.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"3411\" data-end=\"3713\">Human rights activist <strong data-start=\"3433\" data-end=\"3454\">Abdelilah Khoudri<\/strong> calls for a radical reform: to shift from <strong data-start=\"3497\" data-end=\"3518\">in-kind subsidies<\/strong> to <strong data-start=\"3522\" data-end=\"3547\">direct cash transfers<\/strong> through the Unified Social Registry, ensuring that support reaches the families who need it most \u2014 not the \u201cparasitic companies\u201d growing rich in the name of poverty.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"3715\" data-end=\"3934\">One question remains:<br data-start=\"3736\" data-end=\"3739\" \/><strong data-start=\"3739\" data-end=\"3820\">Is this truly support for the poor \u2014 or the impoverishment of support itself?<\/strong><br data-start=\"3820\" data-end=\"3823\" \/>Morocco spends billions in the name of solidarity, yet solidarity remains a slogan rather than a lived reality.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"3941\" data-end=\"3988\"><strong data-start=\"3945\" data-end=\"3988\">Crisis of Flour or Crisis of the State?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"3990\" data-end=\"4254\">Ultimately, this issue is not about flour alone \u2014 nor about one MP\u2019s rhetoric \u2014 but about <strong data-start=\"4080\" data-end=\"4130\">a deeper crisis of governance and transparency<\/strong>.<br data-start=\"4131\" data-end=\"4134\" \/>When oversight becomes a slogan and accountability a rarity, citizens become the last to know what they are consuming.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"4256\" data-end=\"4513\">Who controls what in the flour subsidy system?<br data-start=\"4302\" data-end=\"4305\" \/>Why does the management of social support remain cloaked in secrecy?<br data-start=\"4373\" data-end=\"4376\" \/>And how can a State aspiring to a <em data-start=\"4410\" data-end=\"4435\">\u201cNew Development Model\u201d<\/em> hope to build the future without first restoring trust in the bread of today?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"4515\" data-end=\"4779\">Perhaps Touizi exaggerated \u2014 or perhaps not.<br data-start=\"4559\" data-end=\"4562\" \/>But his words have at least stripped away a painful truth:<br data-start=\"4620\" data-end=\"4623\" \/><strong data-start=\"4623\" data-end=\"4779\">beneath the hum of the mills and the dust of politics, it is social justice itself that is being ground, day after day, in the machinery of bureaucracy.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sixteen billion dirhams blown away in the mills of public subsidy\u2026 A political bomb exploded inside Morocco\u2019s Parliament when Ahmed Touizi, head of the Authenticity and Modernity Party group, revealed that the so-called \u201cnational subsidized flour\u201d might, in some cases, be nothing more than paper flour. \u0627\u0644\u062e\u0628\u0632 \u0627\u0644\u0630\u064a \u0646\u0623\u0643\u0644\u0647&#8230; \u0644\u064a\u0633 \u0643\u0645\u0627 \u0646\u0639\u062a\u0642\u062f: \u0641\u0633\u0627\u062f \u064a\u0644\u062a\u0647\u0645 16 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,12,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-architecture","category-make-it-modern","category-new-look"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.13emregion.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.13emregion.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.13emregion.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.13emregion.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.13emregion.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/en.13emregion.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":368,"href":"https:\/\/en.13emregion.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366\/revisions\/368"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.13emregion.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.13emregion.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.13emregion.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.13emregion.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}