Madar (Nouakchott) - Former director general of the national power utility SOMELEC, Akhermbali (Khrembala) Ould Mohamed Lehbib, was appointed director general of the Mauritanian Hydrocarbons Company (SMH) at the Council of Ministers on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, replacing Mohamed Lemine Ould Reggani, who was named an adviser to the Presidency earlier in the day, according to the Council's official communiqué released in the evening by the Mauritanian News Agency, in which it is the only individual measure. The news site Essahraa had first reported the appointment at midday, citing its sources.
The appointment comes just one week after he was replaced at SOMELEC: the October 14 Council of Ministers named former minister Thiam Tidjani as the utility's director general, as part of changes at the top of public companies and the electricity sector made days after the publication of the independent inquiry report into fires at two transformer stations in Nouakchott.
What the report said
In its executive summary signed on October 6, the commission chaired by former minister Ousmane Mamoudou Kane found "a direct link" between the fires and new 33 kV links energised on August 15 at the East station and August 20 at the North station, without being able to establish the technical mechanism definitively. It said nothing showed that a deliberate act or an operating error caused the fires.
In its table of responsibilities, the report grouped SOMELEC's former director general (August 2024 - June 2025) with the then-current one (since July 2025) and listed failings including launching the project without prior technical studies, "unjustified award decisions", not objecting to a change of cable manufacturer, "shortcomings in project follow-up, notably cable delivery and energising" and the "non-application of late-delivery penalties". Local media attributed the last two points to Ould Mohamed Lehbib, based on the period of his tenure.
Contractor CTM Bâtiments has said it warned SOMELEC of deficiencies at the stations before the fires in a technical report sent on November 5, 2025, during his tenure.
The former director's defence
Ould Mohamed Lehbib has not spoken publicly in his own name. An "authorised source close to him" told Le Calame on October 11 that the report's two observations about him "do not appear to establish any personal failing". The source said final penalties depend on the acceptance date, that "provisional acceptance has not yet been pronounced", that the unpaid balance (13% of the contract) exceeds the 10% penalty cap, and that the cable was accepted at the factory on June 13, 2025, before he took office on July 3.
Timeline of the file
• June 25, 2025: Akhermbali Ould Mohamed Lehbib appointed SOMELEC director general, succeeding Sidi Ould Salem.
• August 15 and 20, 2026: the new links are energised at the East and North stations.
• August 21 and 22, 2026: fires at the East (Toujounine) and North (Tevragh Zeina) transformer stations; large parts of Nouakchott lose power for days.
• August 25: the President orders an independent inquiry.
• October 8: the President receives the report and orders its publication and the implementation of its recommendations.
• October 9: Prime Minister Mokhtar Ould Djay hands in the government's resignation and is reappointed the same day; the new government formed on October 10 no longer includes Energy Minister Mohamed Ould Khaled.
• October 14: new heads appointed at SOMELEC, the Energy Ministry's general secretariat and the Electricity directorate.
• October 21: the Council of Ministers names the former SOMELEC chief head of SMH.
Questions raised
The move of the former director general to the helm of another public energy company, a week after his removal, raises questions about the meaning of that removal: was it a sanction linked to the report's findings or a mere reshuffle? Does the new appointment mean the authorities do not hold him personally responsible? And what has become of the commission's other recommendations, including referring some facts to the judiciary?
No official document has linked the October 14 changes to the report. MP Biram Dah Abeid called on October 9 for the dismissal of SOMELEC's director general and for accountability, while MP Sidaf Ould Ade warned that without accountability the report would become "a piece of theatre".
