Some thirty elements of the so-called “gendarmerie” of the Polisario Front have begun Thursday (Sept. 6) a sit-in outside the premises of the pseudo-“Ministry of Defense” in Rabouni camp to protest against their training conditions.
The members of the “elite corps”, established by the former leader of the Polisario, the late Mohamed Abdelaziz, refused to undergo a training period in a school of the army that is completely dilapidated. The school is not supplied with water and electricity and food is very poor, reports Futurosahara, a website very close to Mohamed Lamine Ould El Bouhali, the main opponent of the front leader, Brahim Ghali.
The late Mohamed Abdelaziz had also set up a school that he dubbed “Sam Nujoma school” for the training of “gendarmes”, and positioned his eldest son at the head of a unit of this “military institution”.
The so-called “gendarmes”, very angry against their leadership, have told the media that they consider sending them to this school “as an offense”, hence their decision to go to Rabouni, which houses the Polisario headquarters, to express their resentment and protest.
The “gendarmes”’ discontent is all the greater that their unit was considered, under the leadership of Mohamed Abdelaziz, as the spearhead of the Polisario armed militia. It had more than 700 elements at the time before the number was reduced to less than 200, under Brahim Ghali, reports the website, quoting the protesters.
According to Futurosahara, the “gendarmes” are victim of a power struggle between Brahim Ghali and his rival Ould El Bouhali, the former so-called “Defense Minister” who has never swallowed his removal from office.
Now, each of the two strongmen of Rabouni seeks to lay control over this unit to extend his authority and to expand his business.
Being positioned at the top of the pyramid of power in Rabouni can pay big and open the doors of illicit enrichment. Actually, the Polisario leaders do not hesitate to beg for humanitarian aid on behalf of the needy populations of the Tindouf camps, for the more they get, the more they loot and divert.