HM King Mohammed VI, Commander of the Faithful, sent a letter to the minister of Habous (Endowment) and Islamic Affairs and to the chairman of the supreme audit Board of Habous Funds, said a statement by the Royal Office.
The letter comprises the Sovereign's guidelines for the continuation of public habous reform with the aim of their preservation, their valorization and their good management, considering their noble objectives and their great contribution to the economic and social development of Morocco, besides their spiritual symbolism and their key position in the field of charitable works and the promotion of social solidarity.
On this occasion, and given his religious and constitutional prerogatives, HM the king recalled his initiatives to promote the institution of habous, with regard to both its legal framework and its management and monitoring mechanisms, including the code of habous and the setting up of the supreme audit Board of habous funds.
The royal letter stressed that: "In order to achieve this objective, we wish to recall in advance the fundamental objectives of this reform, namely the preservation of the property of public habous, the increase of their profitability and their promotion to guarantee a greater contribution to the sustainable development of the country, in accordance with the provisions of the habous code and spirit."
On this occasion, HM the King, Commander of the Faithful, gave the following guidelines:
1- We invite the administration in charge of this institution to draw up a draft long-term strategy for the modernization of its management methods, which will be submitted to Our high appreciation within six months. This project should be developed in a context that takes into account constraints as well as opportunities. Likewise, this project should be sufficiently detailed in terms of the objectives to be realized, the resources mobilized and the qualitative result to be achieved, while setting a precise timetable for implementation.
This strategy should include among its priorities a definitive inventory of all public habous property, in addition to the measures to be taken for their preservation, both legally and materially.
Furthermore, this strategy should be based on an ambitious and realistic policy with the objective of promoting and enhancing public habous, by ensuring that all projects are in their favor.
2- After approval by Our Majesty, this strategy should be a mandatory reference for the administration in charge of the habous at the time of the preparation of the annual budgets, as well as for the supreme audit Board of habous funds within the framework of the periodic evaluations that it carries out.
3- In order to ensure that the opinions of the supreme audit Board of habous funds regarding Shariah compliance are imposed on the administration in charge of the management of public habous, they should, henceforth, be subjected to the approval of the supreme Council of Ulemas, which should inform the habous administration and the Board in charge of audit of its decision.
4 - The administration of the public habous is required to strictly comply with the procedures and measures on the budgetary, financial and accounting organization, as well as those relating to public spending.
5- The administration in charge of the management of public habous funds should ensure to build on the relevant remarks and recommendations made by the supreme audit board of habous funds and which are resulting from the audit and evaluation operations it is responsible for in order to overcome the shortcomings identified.
6- The supreme audit board of habous funds should adopt, henceforth, the conflict of laws in its annual report submitted to Our High Attention by including a section dedicated to the responses of the minister in charge of habous.
At the end of this royal letter, HM the King called on both the ministry of Habous and the supreme audit board of habous funds to work together as exemplary partners, in a climate of total cooperation in order to promote public habous and achieve the process of reform and modernization of this institution.
The Sovereign also stressed the need to respect the guidelines contained in this letter, calling for their immediate implementation and to inform him of the results of the annual reports in this regard, given the fact that the necessary amendments to the related legal mechanism will be published shortly. 05/01/2018
