In Morocco, actor and director Ahmed Jawad died on Sunday April 2 at the age of 61 after setting himself on fire on March 27 in front of the Ministry of Culture. His relatives are wondering about the circumstances that led the playwright to end his life, in particular the responsibility of the government, his main client. The ministry suddenly reduced orders for plays, preventing Ahmad Jawad from supporting his family.
With our correspondent in Rabat, Victor Mauriat
“ It’s the ministry’s fault “Laments one of Ahmed Jawad’s acquaintances on condition of anonymity.
According to several of his relatives, the playwright had alerted the ministry to his situation for several weeks, without it reacting to the height of the threat. After nearly thirty years of service in the administration and animation of workshops at the National Theater Mohammed V, he retired in October 2021 with a pension of approximately 1 300 DH, i.e. 120 euro per month : too little to support his wife and two children.
As a result, Ahmed Jawad continued to work by putting on plays whose performances he sold to the Ministry of Culture.
In a letter addressed to the Minister, Ahmed Jawad requested the purchase of 10 representations, in order to allow him to get out of precariousness. And it is following the refusal of the ministry, which offers him only two performances this year, that Ahmed Jawad would have started a three-week hunger strike at the beginning of February. This before deciding, faced with the lack of reaction from the authorities, to set himself on fire on March 27th.
At the Ministry of Culture, they reply that the institution was in good standing with the playwright; our source shares his sadness and shock. She assures that the family of the deceased received financial aid in solidarity to cope with this mourning.
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