Akhannouch was the target of several accusations of corruption during his time as Minister of Agriculture. In 2017,
Hamid Chabat, then secretary general of the
Istiqlal Party, accused him of stealing 13 billion
Moroccan dirhams intended to go towards gas compensation during a party meeting. At a previous gathering in
Fez, he additionally accused Akhannouch of corruption, and implied that his $2 billion fortune was the equivalent of "all that 30 million Moroccans own". Akhannouch has been criticized over the suppression of dissenting opinions and imprisonment of opponents, alongside calls for an end to violations of
freedom of speech and the right to peaceful demonstration. The profits of these companies amounted to about 17 billion dirhams (around US$1.75 billion), and several parties described them as immoral and illegal profits on the back of the Moroccan people. There were still several demands to restore them, whether in Parliament or in the media. During the period following the case, the president of the Competition Council, , prepared a report on Akhannouch's illegal profits, and submitted it to King Mohammed VI. In March 2021, Guerraoui was relieved of his position and replaced by Ahmed Rahhou.
Press relations As of 2016, the Ministry of Agriculture spent several million dirhams annually in massive advertising in the country's print press. If a newspaper criticized Akhannouch or his Green Morocco plan, it immediately saw the Ministry's advertisements cut off, along with those of the Akwa group.
2018 boycott In the spring of 2018, Morocco was shaken by a boycott movement launched against Centrale Danone, Sidi Ali (mineral water) and Akwa's subsidiary Afriquia. The three brands, which are major distributors of three basic products – milk, water and fuel – were accused by the population of charging very high prices. The movement became extremely popular, leading to reactions from the government. According to the French think tank School of Thought on Economic Warfare (EPGE), which investigated the boycott movement, it was a campaign of "hierarchized" disinformation "therefore orchestrated by a precise political agenda", which would have benefited from a substantial budget, with for example between 100,000 and 500,000 euros for the purchase of online space to disseminate the ideas of the movement, as well as expensive donation campaigns to the poor to mobilize public opinion. According to the same study, the movement of
Al Adl Wa Al Ihssane would be behind this boycott campaign with the aim of removing Akhanouch from the political scene. Akhannouch himself said he "ignored" the boycott campaign while speaking to
Jeune Afrique, accusing opponents of "exploiting Moroccans' hardship for political goals". On 17 November 2018, Driss Guerraoui was appointed by King Mohammed VI as president of the Competition Council. In 2020, the Council recognized that the three brands targeted by the 2018 boycott campaign had reached an agreement on prices.
Milan comments In December 2019, during a meeting in
Milan with Moroccans living in Italy, Akhannouch declared, "Whoever believes that they can come and insult the institutions of the country has no place in Morocco. Whoever wants to live in Morocco must respect its motto and its democracy. Insults will not move us forward. And excuse me, but it is not justice that should do this job. […] We must re-educate Moroccans who lack education." The remarks triggered strong reactions from Moroccan politicians and citizens as well as a call for the resuming of the 2018 boycott of his companies. The Milan comments were alluded to in the popular music video "
M3a L3echrane" by
Dizzy DROS.
2021 election In the runup to the 2021 general election,
Abdellatif Ouahbi, Secretary General of the
Authenticity and Modernity Party which later joined the government coalition, accused Akhannouch of "flooding the political scene with money", while the
Justice and Development Party heading the outgoing coalition condemned the "obscene use of funds to lure voters and some polling station supervisors", without naming any parties. Additionally, the party also alleged "serious irregularities" in the voting process.
Nabil Benabdallah, head of the
Party of Progress and Socialism, criticized Akhannouch's party, the RNI, during an interview for giving sums of money to lure candidates from other parties "in full view of everyone".
#Degage_Akhannouch campaign In 2022, as fuel prices continued to rise, an online campaign emerged with tens of thousands of users on Twitter and Facebook using the three French hashtags #7dh_Gazoil, #8dh_Essence and #Degage_Akhannouch ("Get out Akhannouch") to call for an immediate decrease in gas prices, accusing Akhannouch and his company Afriquia of benefiting from the crisis.
Abdelilah Benkirane, head of the
Justice and Development Party (PJD) and former prime minister, said that he "didn't support" the online campaign, adding that "only Sidna (our lord) [King Mohammed VI] has the competence (…) to put an end to this cabinet and call for the organisation of early legislative elections". Nevertheless, several PJD members participated in the campaign. Akhannouch received criticism from Moroccans for his absence and lack of management towards those affected by the earthquake. Two days after the earthquake occurred, he sent his condolences to families affected by the disaster. He pledged to rebuild all infrastructures destroyed in the earthquake. ==Personal life==