A rumor pulled from an old administrative file has clouded the early days of Fatima Essaadi’s tenure in a sensitive portfolio. Appointed deputy minister in charge of Housing and Urban Policy in Morocco’s newly formed government, she is now the target of claims circulating on social media that a court ruled against her roughly a decade ago in a case involving encroachment on another party’s property.
A source close to the minister says the allegations are far from the truth and appear timed to distort the record just as Essaadi takes up her new duties. The case reportedly dates back to her time as president of the communal council of Al Hoceima, and concerned efforts to clear encroachments on public domain land and enforce the relevant legal provisions, a routine, if often contentious, task for local officials dealing with unauthorized land occupation.
According to the same source, Essaadi holds a final court ruling that fully acquitted her in the case, with the original complainant ordered to cover the legal costs. No official document has been made public so far, either by the minister or her office, and neither the name of the court nor the exact date of the ruling has been disclosed.
The controversy lands amid broader turbulence surrounding the makeup of the new cabinet. Several recent appointments have stirred debate: one minister left her post barely 48 hours after taking office following a controversy over a medical document, while another official reportedly sought a pardon before joining the government. Against that backdrop, any resurfaced personal file carries outsized political weight.
For now, neither the Housing Ministry nor Essaadi’s office has issued a formal statement to close the matter. The story is likely to keep circulating in Rabat and online until the underlying court documents, if they exist, are made public.
