Mauritania: Prime Minister replaced amid investigation into alleged corruption

Last updated on September 11th, 2021 at 02:35 pm

Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani has replaced his top minister following the resignation of Ismail Ould Bedda Ould Cheikh Sidiya.

The pass comes after prosecutors received a key record investigating the activities of former head of state Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz.

Mohamed Ould Bilal, a former political adviser and minister in the technology before Abdel Aziz, replaces Sidiya. He has been tasked with forming a new govermment following the resignation of Sidiya’s complete administration.

Before his appointment as prime minister in August 2019, Sidiya had served between 2009 and 2014 as minister of housing and employment under Aziz.

Prosecutors in the capital Nouakchott had announced on Wednesday that they had received a report by a nine-member commission, tasked with investigating aspects of Aziz’s 2008-19 presidency.

Matters mentioned in the parliamentary record include the dealing with of oil revenues, the sales of state-owned property in Nouakchott, the activities of Chinese fishing agency Pully Hong Dong, and the liquidation of a state-owned association that provided meals products.

Aziz, a former navy general, not noted a summons from the committee closing month to give an explanation for the problems at stake, according to a parliamentary official.

Mauritanian MPs adopted a law at the end of July setting up a High Court of Justice to try the head of state and ministers in instances of “high treason”. The court is due to be set up in the coming months.

President Ghazouani succeeded Aziz in August final year. He had in the past served under him as Chief of Staff and Defence Minister.

Aziz first came to electricity in a military coup in 2008, deposing then-president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi. Aziz went on to win elections in 2009 and 2014.

(AFP)