Muslim Brotherhood’s wealth raises doubts in Morocco, Tunisia

Doaa Emam

The Muslim Brotherhood likes to masquerade as a victim everywhere.

However, such a claim is being belied in Tunisia and Morocco where the Muslim Brotherhood branches keep complaining against the lack of funds.

In Morocco, the Muslim Brotherhood’s party, Justice and Development, is being investigated about its vast wealth. In Tunisia, some people are calling for investigating the wealth of the head of the Ennahda Movement, Rached Ghannouchi.

The Moroccan and Tunisian cases are similar in that the Muslim Brotherhood has succeeded in rising to power in both countries. The branches of the movement in the two countries face accusations of fast enrichment.

A report by the auditory agency in Morocco has shown that the Justice and Development Party is the richest of all political parties in the country. In 2018, the report says, the party had total funds of 38 million dirhams.

The report also called for investigating the wealth of the party to get to its source.

Some members of the Ennahda Movement are lobbying for the approval of reforms that open the door for the transition of power inside the movement.

Ghannouchi is coming under fire, meanwhile, for monopolizing decision-making and money inside his party. Those opposing him call for him to step down to allow for Ennahda’s renewal.

Those opposing Ghannouchi include some of the most senior members inside Ennahda.

According to a senior member of Ennahda, Mohamed bin Salem, Ghannouchi favors his family members to other party members.

This came as Ghannouchi faced accusations of favoring his son-in-law, Rafik Abdessalem, to Abdelfattah Mourou, a cofounder of Ennahda Party. Abdessalem was appointed as the foreign minister of Tunisia.

However, the man came at the center of corruption allegations. Ennahda said the allegations were a baseless attempt to tarnish his reputation.