Moroccan Political Parties Fail to Justify Over MAD 5 Million in Spending

Morocco World

27-05-2025

Rabat – Morocco's Court of Auditors has revealed that political parties failed to justify more than MAD 5.73 million (~$625k) in spending during 2023.
In its latest report , the court said this amount, about 6.27% of all declared expenses, was either not supported by any documents or only had incomplete ones.
According to the report, MAD 5.34 million (~$582k) in party spending had no proof at all, while MAD 309,000 (~$33.6k) were backed by incomplete records, and another MAD 75,000 (~$8,200) had documents issued under someone else's name instead of the party's.
This continues a trend of poor financial management among Morocco's political parties, although the percentage of unjustified expenses has dropped compared to 26% in 2022. Still, the court called on parties to improve how they manage public funds and follow accounting rules more closely.
The report also shows that while 24 parties returned nearly MAD 36 million (~$3.9 million) to the Treasury between 2022 and March 2025, 15 parties still owe over MAD 21.9 million (~$2.3 million). Most of this money comes from election funding that was either misused or not spent, dating back to the 2015, 2016, and 2021 elections.
Missing reports and weak oversight
Out of 33 parties, only 27 submitted their financial statements for 2023. While 22 parties met the legal deadline, six parties failed to submit anything at all. The court also noted that four parties submitted unaudited accounts, and four others submitted reports with reservations from their auditors.
Many parties also failed to provide important supporting documents, with seven parties failing to include all the required financial tables, three parties failing to submit all their bank statements, and three others failing to detail how they spent the money.
The report also raised concerns about how some parties collect money. Eight parties were unable to prove how they got MAD 1.72 million (~$187k) in self-generated resources.
This includes MAD 853,000 (~$93k) that came from sources that could not be traced, and MAD 866,000 was collected in cash, exceeding legal limits.
In addition, the court found that 23 of the 27 parties that submitted reports had problems with how they kept their books. These included not recording public money they were supposed to return, basic accounting mistakes, and failing to follow the standard accounting format set by the state.
In 2022, the government gave additional funds to support research and studies within parties. However, only three parties submitted their final research work. Four parties returned over MAD 2 million ($22k) in unused funds, while others provided no explanation. Tags: court of auditMoroccan Political Partiesspending