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For the record: The injustice of 1993 at the University of Asmara (UoA)

For the record: The injustice of 1993 at the University of Asmara (UoA) By Mohamed Kheir This is written with reference to the letter written by three former staff members who were dismissed from the University of

For the record: The injustice of 1993 at the University of Asmara (UoA)

By Mohamed Kheir

This is written with reference to the letter written by three former staff members who were dismissed from the University of Asmara. It is no way meant to go to arguments on the issue. It is not time for judgments and arguments. As I have indicated in my original post, this among other issues needs to be investigated in a free and democratic Eritrea.  As the link to my Facebook post in the letter was deliberately or otherwise made non-functional and to the benefit of the readers to get the two sides of the story, I will write down my original post at the end.  I will add some comments so that the reader can get a broader perspective. They claim that I testified that I collaborated with the regime and try to make me bear the main responsibility for what happened. This is something I have never stated nor did. The presence of a government minister in the committee, who had no relations whatsoever to the university, is not even mentioned or given importance.  All I stated was I was a member of a five member committee that recommended among other things the dismissal and their reassignment to other ministries and that the process was unjust.

It is not easy when you are a victim of injustice and one has a right to express ones views. We have all become victims of the regime. If someone is in the public sphere, one has to expect criticism or defamation with an open mind. As to me, I am not here seeking certificates of innocence or struggle, I was not only a member of the G-13 in 2000 who challenged the regime openly, but I was one of two persons who remained inside Eritrea after writing that letter and was the only one afterwards, when my colleague left the county, earlier. This was the time many persons avoided me in public for fear to be seen with me. I left Eritrea in August 2001 for a research collaboration project in Norway and the tragic arrests of all those who struggled for a democratic change, one month later, happened while I was there. Thus I could not return back.

–          When I chose to write about this issue, it is to clear my conscience, not to satisfy others. It is to be satisfied by judging yourself not by how people judge you. I know we do not have a culture to appreciate honesty and openness and we have to pay a price for that when we do. Your political opponents may use such things against you for temporary gains. Instead of encouraging openness and honesty. We try to haunt those who do and thus discourage others in following suit. It was with a full understanding of such issues that I wrote the post. We are obsessed with a culture of conspiracy and some may ask why I do write about this issue at this time. I get such comments on my Facebook account when I write about different issues that people disagree with or are not comfortable with; forgetting that as an individual I have the right to write on whatever issue at whatever time. For the benefit of the doubt, I am currently on leave to be able to reflect on my life, on my political activism since the early seventies, to write on issues related to Eritrea. This is not the only issue I have reflected on. I have written on my involvement in the General Union of Eritrean Students (GUES), on the ELF and others. Hopefully, I will write more about other issues. As I have indicated on other related issues I posted, we claim we fight against the PFDJ, its culture of secrecy and exclusion, we advocate human rights; but more often than not we become blind to our own hypocrisy.

 

–          It is true that perhaps by the virtue of its history as a Catholic institution, in Eritrea, most of the staff members were from one region (Akleguzai) and thus many of those dismissed but not all were from that region. To my surprise the regional sentiments were very high at the University and to blame that the regional card was played by then President and not by those who opposed him is far from the truth. But after the dismissal, we found out that all higher positions at the university were given to persons from another region (Seraye). All the rest were a minority at that time.

 

–          The injustice I refer to is about the process. This does not mean in my humble understanding that all issues raised by the staff during that period was correct and timely. I gave my opinion then openly in staff meetings. It is a fact that the institution was an Ethiopian institution (both in terms of staff and students) operating under the Derge and the previous Ethiopian administrations. The University was far from a national institution. I am not aware of any organized staff protests during the Ethiopian administration, at least in the years before liberation as it happened after it. The struggle was between a group of staff who worked under the Ethiopian administration for a long time and who wanted to have a dominant role in administering the University and who wanted to use former structures such staff union to maintain that role (some may have had genuine motives) and the new University administration of the EPLF represented by Andeberhan who wanted to introduce radical changes and have full control of the University. As I have indicated it is still my judgment that it is difficult to put all the dismissed staff in one pot. In hindsight taking into consideration how the EPLF/PFDJ operates, one cannot rule out that the process was all manipulated to target a group or individuals.

 

–          Through the Committee’s work we had access to all the files of the staff and that is something confidential that I do not want to go into details about.

–          It is also a fact the EPLF dismissed all former EWP (Iseba) members and those that were considered close to the Ethiopian regime from Government positions in all sectors

Regarding some points raised in the above mentioned letter, I would like to highlight the following:

–          It is claimed that they “ didn’t want to ignore Dr Mohammed Kheir’s misleading message that strives to distort the facts while attempting to minimise his culpability” – my response is: I simply state I was a member of the Academic Review Committee (ARC), no more no less, but if some of them want to believe this was not the work of the EPLF, not the work of a committee, not meant to target a particular group, but the major work of a ‘super human being’ called ‘Mohamed’ is difficult to understand.

 

–          They state “We categorically stress (1) the staff dismissal wasn’t based on academic appraisal, as he tried to present it, but it actually relates to previous conflict with university’s appointed President” . My response is- I have clearly stated that “it may be difficult to all of them into one pot. There are those who were members of the EWP, those who were seen by the Committee to be academically unfit and then there were those who were academics of high caliber but perhaps included for subjective reasons.”

 

–          They state, “Dr Mohamed Kheir openly testifies that he collaborated with the regime in the process.” My response is: I never said I collaborated with the regime, I just said that I was a member of the ARC. Collaboration means doing something with full knowledge and deliberately.

 

–          They state “why he has decided to raise this issue of injustice at this particular time.” Though not of relevance to me, I have answered this question previously

 

–          They state, “It was at this stage, Dr Mohammed Kheir  played his major role. He stood behind the destructive mission of the President and worked hard to discredit the efforts of the Teachers Association of the university and blackmail its executive committee as well as those who support the ideals of the Association by spreading false accusations and information. In so doing he was involved in circulating a petition condemning the Association and insisting on general staff to sign” . My response: I am not aware of any petition that was circulating let alone be part of it. I challenged some of the issues they raised and that I did not agree with, publicly and in open staff meetings. I pride myself on that culture. I remember at the end of one of those meetings, a close friend of mine then and a member of group approached me and said, “Mohamed Fah abilkalna” – You spoiled it for us. I told him I expressed my views openly why didn’t you do the same. I also remember during the period of Woldeab’s  presidency of the university and when I expressed my views openly, staff members who were much senior then me would come after the meeting and tell me, “Tzebug geirka Mohamed” – you did well, and I felt pity for them that they could not express their views publically.

 

–          As to the claim that I was handpicked by Andeberhan to be a dean, perhaps a reference to incompetence; I would like to state that when I joined the University in 1991 the Agriculture program had three staff members (two with MSc and one with a BSc.) And for the record, the College of Agriculture and Aquatic Sciences was the first college to get a major funding from abroad that was not only used for the college but for the other colleges as well. An initiative that was started by Andeberhan and which I personally followed together with my colleagues, with an agricultural college in Holland resulted in a proposal to Nuffic, an international Dutch funding for higher education which was written with the participation of the department heads. We competed with 10 other universities in the third world and won more than 10 million Dutch Guilders (US $ 5, 6 million) and also got more than 4 million Norwegian kroner (US $ 680,000) from Norway for building laboratories and scholarships to staff for MSc. and PhD studies. That was the money that Dr. Woldeab comfortably started with after he took over the presidency of the university. The day we got the approval, he highly appreciated it.

 

–          One point worth stressing is that fact the group who opposed the President     cannot be put under one homogenous group. They vary from one of the signatories of the letter who used to spit in front of me in a childish manner (he knows himself), after dismissal, only when I was alone and whom I felt then and still feel today he did not deserve to be at the University (yet he was subjected to an unfair process) and someone else a man of high academic caliber and integrity that I knew from the struggle against the regime who I regard it was a loss to the University.

At the end we have all become victims and more and more victims are added every day. We need to concentrate at present on not only bringing down the regime, but on developing a better alternative, too. I have no intention on dwelling on this issue further.

This is the original post of June 1:

“According to a 1991 Fact sheet of the University, it was re-established in 1991 as an autonomous university by the then Provisional Government of Eritrea with “an all out effort to rehabilitate, restructure and revitalize it as a center of higher learning and development oriented research”. Andberhan Woldeghiorghis, a member of the Central Committee of the EPLF, then, was appointed as its first president. The University of Asmara (UoA) was founded in 1958 as the ” Holy Family” University Institute by the Missionary Congregation ”Piae Matres Nigritiell” ( Comboni Sisters) with Italian as the medium of instruction. It became a chartered University in 1968. It adopted English as a sole medium of instruction in 1975 and became part of the Ethiopian Commission for Higher Education in 1977. The old staff members at the University got into continued confrontation with the President.

By 1990, the UoA was relocated to Ethiopia (some colleges moved to Addis and others to Agarfa in Bale). As most of the staff and students by then were Ethiopians, the few Eritrean staff and students returned back to Asmara, after independence. Though the staff had a staff union and enjoyed some degree of academic freedom during the Derg rule, the Ethiopian Workes’ Party (EWP) had a close watch on the university. Few of the staff members were Party members, others had close ties to the Derg regime, but the majority were academics. There was a degree of mistrust between the old staff members and the EPLF. It was under such circumstances that the some of the old staff got into continued confrontation with the new University president. There were some calls that those who came from the jungle cannot administer the university. The new President had also his weaknesses in dealing with the situation and he was implementing an EPLF policy. The University came to a standstill. The Government then dismissed the new President and the University was temporarily placed under the Ministry of Education that was run by Baraki Gebresellasie.

A new interim President, Dr. Araya Tzeggai, was appointed to run the University. The Minister of Education appointed a five-member group called ‘Academic Review Committee’ that was headed by the late Prof. Kesete Gebrekidan (died in 2011 and was Advisor of Technical Affairs in the Office of the President at the time of his death), the late Dr. Haile Gebrekidan, Kibraab from the law school, Abraha Atzbha (Minister of Public Works since independence), and myself. All of the committee members were new academic staff members who had joined the University after liberation, in addition to the Minister who had no attachment to the University. The committee came up with a report and a recommendations, including dismissing about 35 staff members (mostly academic) and assigning them to other ministries. The Government endorsed the recommendations. I do not know of any hidden agenda (if some members influenced the recommendations, but the decision was taken unanimously). It may be difficult to all of them into one pot. There are those who were members of the EWP, those who were seen by the Committee to be academically unfit and then there were those who were academics of high caliber but perhaps included for subjective reasons.

In hindsight, the decision was unjust:

– The whole process was not transparent

– Those affected were not given the chance to know the grounds on which they were dismissed and assigned to other ministries and did not have the chance to defend themselves

– The Academic Review Committee members were all new to the University and no former staff were included in the Committee

But one thing was clear afterwards, among those dismissed was a very vocal group who challenged the EPLF establishment and the University was silenced forever afterwards.

As far as I am concerned, the fact that I was a member of that committee is an accusation I cannot deny and it is not an honour I can claim. I hope this issue, among other injustices committed, will be investigated in a free and democratic Eritrea and I take my share of responsibility in it. We are used to a culture of speaking of positive things we have been involved in, but it is also good to mention things one is not comfortable with.

I remember one opposition website mentioning that I, personally (described as someone who had only first degree) and Dr. Haile Gebrekidan to be soley responsible for the dismissal as if we had full powers. We were also regarded as Andebrhan’s men. For the record, when Woldeab Isaac took over the presidency of the University and met the University staff for the first time, he mentioned that the only written report that he found was an annual report by the College of Agriculture and Aquatic Sciences. He commended that and asked the other Deans to write similar reports. The next day when I met him, the first thing he asked was how did I become a Dean. I mentioned I did not beg for that and he could relieve me of that position with immediate effect. He seemed surprised and did not reply. From that day onwards whenever a senior person joined the our colleague, I asked him, if he could relieve me from my duty but he insisted I continue and till I left the University in 2001, though there were differences, there was mutual respect between us.” – end of the original post.

Note by the editor – demo.archive.assenna.com: Thanks Dr Mohamed Kheir for including the original facebook post to your response. Malfunction of the link was due to technical reasons; and the writers of the letter made us aware of the problem before we received your response, although we didn’t succeed to make it work on time.

aseye.asena@gmail.com

Review overview
95 COMMENTS
  • bravo June 16, 2014

    I am getting amazed by z comments against Dr Mohammed khier. He tried to elaborate z issue corculating z former suspended the former lecturers at z Universoty Asmara. We have come to know that there are many things involved behind thier suspension. Dr Mohammed has publicly admitted that z procedures for their sacking lacked transparency and condemned the regime therafter. He is one of z few couragous Eritrean intelectuals who wrote to z president of Eritrea concerning his authoritarian rule while those victoms of the suspension chose to remain in their hidouts or comfort zones. I don’t clearly understund Why their decision to publicly criticize Dr mahammed instead of the dictotarial regime? If as they said the cause of their suspension was their crtics of the government’s in efficint Universty administration, why they have not being seen crticising z government’s dictotarial policies for the last 20 yrs? But the Dr has been infront fighting the dictotor for the last 13 yrs unlike of them who even scared to write about their unfair dismisal until recently. If he has any serious crime, he will answer it in peaceful and democratic Eritrea as he put it in his article. Not only him, infact, all of us including the suspended Lecturers and other former Generals and government officials. I would urge Eritrean brothers to divert your attack direct at z monster in Asmara rather than misusing it in demotivating z energetic and patriotic activists from their genuine struggle for democratic Eritrea.

  • bravo June 16, 2014

    I am getting amazed by z comments against Dr Mohammed khier. He tried to elaborate z issue corculating at z former suspended lecturers of z Universoty of Asmara. We have come to know that there are many things involved behind thier suspension. Dr Mohammed has publicly admitted that z procedures for their sacking lacked transparency and condemned the regime therafter. He is one of z few couragous Eritrean intelectuals who wrote to z president of Eritrea concerning his authoritarian rule while those victoms of the suspension chose to remain in their hidouts or comfort zones. I don’t clearly understund Why their decision to publicly criticize Dr mahammed instead of the dictotarial regime? If as they said the cause of their suspension was their crtics of the government’s in efficint Universty administration, why they have not being seen crticising z government’s dictotarial policies for the last 20 yrs? But the Dr has been infront fighting the dictotor for the last 13 yrs unlike of them who even scared to write about their unfair dismisal until recently. If he has any serious crime, he will answer it in peaceful and democratic Eritrea as he put it in his article. Not only him, infact, all of us including the suspended Lecturers and other former Generals and government officials. I would urge Eritrean brothers to divert your attack direct at z monster in Asmara rather than misusing it in demotivating z energetic and patriotic activists from their genuine struggle for democratic Eritrea.

  • ahmed saleh June 16, 2014

    I appreciate those commentators who have first hand observation on the issue . Beside the writer’s
    testimony your input to share your knowledge even if it is limited gave us an opportunity to understand
    slightly about the problems of ASMARA UNIVERSITY .
    But regardless all excuses ,HGDF authority incapable way of governance was the main responsible to fail the
    nation’s educational development not the hired employee from up-down posts . Any kind of institution
    use a method to review the challenges they face and take appropriate decisions particularly on part of
    its management . Unfortunately , the government took destructive measure the easiest out to shut it down
    completely for good .
    Well at the end , the future of truly dreamers which are teenagers and children of Eritrea bothers me the most.
    No wonder they all dream to leave the country out of hopelessness .

  • Verify June 16, 2014

    I think everyone is washing it’s hands off the Dictator . Like Pilatos during exection of the Juses Christ . It is the begining of the end of PFDJ . I recall this scinarios in other regims .

    The damage is alredy done .And I don’t think this Dr would have solved the problem , had he raised the issue at that time .

    It is a good sign , but Dr. you will be juged by your silence at that time , not by this article .

    It won’t make you clean .

    We have to start to re construct Eritrea from the scratch .

    • Halaf mengedi June 16, 2014

      dr. Mohamed Ker did not say he is clean. He has to be commended for raising this issue without anyone asking him to do so. His role and the other committee members, Andebrhan’s role and the fired university staff can only be judged in an impartial process or historical research. We need to be objective and open-minded about the that history and the circumstances at the time. It is complicated as they say these days 🙂

  • Tell the Truth June 16, 2014

    “It is true that perhaps by the virtue of its history as a Catholic institution, in Eritrea, most of the staff members were from one region (Akleguzai) ”
    Really ? What are you trying to say ? Catholics are Akeleguzai only ? even if that was true, how about that the fact that it was chartered in 1968? or you are stating that “although it was expropriated by Derg and moved to south Ethiopia, yet it kept its Akeleguzainess / Catholicness during those times ?

    Also, what kind of Academic Review Committee – is able to see personal files ? What does that have to do with Academics ?

    Pls, Dr M Kier, the best thing you can do is apologize and let let go. If you are trying to get the favor of AndeBerhan by playing nice… it wont work.

    • Tsehaye June 16, 2014

      Tell the Truth,

      You forgot to include the most dangerous statement that he said: ” But after the dismissal, we found out that all higher positions at the university were given to persons from another region (Seraye). All the rest were a minority at that time.”

      Look, he is now telling us that the former educators that he was instrumental in dismissing them from the University and said most of them were from Akeleguzai were replaced by newly recruited educators from Seraye. Dr. Mohamed Kheir is a very dangerous guy and this is just the beginning. If you wait patiently, you will see his true colors come out soon when he fully takes over the Eritrean Low-Landers assocaition which made its first movie last time in London, England. Dr. Mohamed Kheir knows we are not just naïve but we are also so stupid and he is right. He has injected that infamous statement to make as excited and fight against one another (ngereb bhakla) for eternity. Honesty is not Dr. Mohamed Kheir’s forte. He is one of the most dishonest individuals that I have seen so far. If he has a scintilla of decency, he should simply apologize for collaborating with the mafia regime for destroying the livelihood of so many and for setting in motion the end of a great University. PERIOD.

  • Barentu June 16, 2014

    Best response so far:

    woldu tekle on June 16, 2014 at 12:42 am said:

    ዶክተር መሓመድ፡

    1.ንክፋል እቶም ዝተሰጉ ብቑዓት ክትብሎም ብምንታይ መለክዒ ተጠቒምካ ኢኻ?እቶም ዘይብቑዓት ትብሎም ዘለኻ’ኸ ትምህርቶም ኣበይ ኢዮም ወዲኦም?እንታት መዓርግ ኔርዎም ክስጎጉ ከለዉ?

    2.እንታይ ጭብጥታት ኣለካ ኣውራጃውነት ስምዒት ኣለዎም ኢልካ ክትከስስ ከለኻ?እንታይ ተባሂሉ ወይ እንታይ ተጌሩ ኣውራጃውያን ዘብል?ኣበይን መአስን ኣውራጃውነት ይጥቀምሉ ኔሮም?

    3.ኣታ ትካል ኣብ ትሕቲ ግዝኣት ኢትዮጵያ ከላ ዝቑጸሩ ዝነበሩ መማህራን ካብ ሓደ ኣውራጃ ድዮም ኔሮም?ገዛእቲ ሓይላታት ንሓንቲ ኣውራጃ ሓለፋ ይህብዋ ኔሮም ማለት ድዩ?እወ እንተኮይኑ መልስኻ ጭብጥታት ኣለካ’ዶ?

    4.ቅድሚ 1991 ክንደይ ኢትዮጵያውናን ክንደይ’ከ ኤውርትራውያን መማህራን ኔሮም?ካብ ኩሎም ኢትዮጵያውያንን ኤርትራውያንን’ከ ክንደይ ደቂ ኣከለ ጉዛይ ኔሮም?

    5.ብድሕሪ ምብራሮም ዝተቖጽሩ መማህራን ደቂ ሰራየ ኔሮም ትብል ኣለኻ፡ ፡ ክቑጸሩ ከለዉ ንስኻ ኣበይ ኔርካ?ኣብቲ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ኔርካ እንተኮንካ’ኸ ሓቲትካሉ’ዶ ኔርካ?

    6.ምስ ዓንደብርሃን ዝነበረካ ርክብ ብኸመይ ትግምግሞ?

    7.ካባኻ ንላዕሊ ዝተማህሩ ኔሮም ኢዮም፡ ፤ንስኻ ብኸመይ ኣብ ስልጣን ደይብካ?ንስኻ ስለ ትበልጽ ኢልካ ትኣምን’ዶ?ብኸመይ ኣብታ ኮሚቴ ክትምረጽ ኪኢልካ?ብኣረኣእይኻ?ብፍልጠትካ?ንስኻ ብኸመይ ትርእዮ?

    8.ኣብ ገሊኦም መማህራን ገበን ተፈጺሙ ዝብል እምነት ኣለካ’ዶ?እንተለካ ብድሕሪ ምስጓጎም ይቕረታ ሓቲትካዮም ትፈልጥ’ዶ?

    ኣብ መወዳእታ፡ ኣውራጃውነት ብኸመይ ትዕቅኖ?መለክዒ ኣውራጃውነት እንታይ ኢዩ?ኣውራጃዊ ስምዒታት ብኸመይ ይዕቀን?ኣውርጃ መግለጺ መንነት ሓደ ሰብ ምዃኑ ትኣምን’ዶ?ሓደ ሰብ ምስ ወዲ ኣውራጅኡ ጽቡቕ ዝምድና ምስ ዝህልዎ ኣውራጃዊ የብሎ ኢልካ ትሓስብ’ዶ?እዞም ትብሎም ዘለኻ መማህራን ኣውራጃውነቶም ተጠቒሞም ኣብ ልዕሊ ተወለድቲ ካልኦት ኣውራጃታት ዘውረድዎ ገበን ኔሩ’ዶ?እንተልዩ ኮይኑ መኣስን ንመንን ብኸመይን?ዓንደብርሃን ኣውራጃዊ’ዶ ይመስለካ?ኣይኮነን እንተኢልካ መርትዖታት ኣምጽእ፡ ፤እወ እንተ ኢልካ’ውን መርትዖታት ኣምጽእ፡ ፤

    ዶክተር መሓመድ፡ ቅንዕ ኢልካ ንሕልናኻ ክትዛረብ ጽቡቕ’ዩ፡ ፤ንስኻ ንፍትሕን ሰብኣዊ መሰልን እቃለስ ኣለኹ ትብል እንተኮንካ ቅንዕና መሰረትካ ትኹን፡ ፤

    • Barentu June 16, 2014

      petros on June 16, 2014 at 12:12 am said:

      Dr Mohamed,

      1. The University was no longer a Catholic institution after it was nationalized by the government of Ethiopia. Thus, the Ethiopians ( or whoever appointed by them) were responsible for hiring the academic staff. Are you telling us the Ethiopians were favoring one region of Eritrea versus others? Do you know that there were more Ethiopians in the University compared to Eritreans?

      2. You are uttering the same words used by Andebrhan back then. Can you give us the % of the dismissed faculty members who were from Akologuzay? Among those from Akologuzay, how many were catholics?

      3. You seem to know those who deserved to at be AU and those who did not . What about you, were you deserved to be at AU? If so, based on what criterion? BTW, can you tell us if there were Eritreans who deserved to be at AU back then but were not given the chance. I believe young graduates who ranked top in their class and others with higher education were being hired by AU. I wonder to know if there were Eritreans with higher education (PhD or masters) who were not part of AU pre 1991.

      4. You were used by the regime and you should close the chapter by asking an apology to the victims in particular and to the peoples of Eritrea in general. You were part of the group who abolished the rule of law; note that the university was an autonomous institution and had its own charters before 1991. The final closure of the University is the result of what you guys did in 1993. I believe you agree with me on this. Andebrhan like his former boss played the region card to weaken the strong resistance he faced. We both know that Drs Tesfay, Semere ….. are not from Akologuzay and yet they were among those who were fired. This suggests that region or religion had nothing to do with it. In fact, the regime repeated the game with G-15 and tried to portray them as regionalists.

      I think justifying the action is not going to help us in our struggle against the dictator. Moreover, we should not be vessels of the regime in misinforming the public. A mistake was done which paved a way for dictatorial rule in AU and killed the resistance of the Eritrean intellectuals against injustice. As it is the case in other countries, AU would have been played a significant role in our struggles against the dictator had it not been for what you guys did.

      I hope you will take my advice and stop justifying your mistakes and defending the puppets of DIA.

  • bravo June 16, 2014

    But there have been many indicators that can support the view that the University of Asmara was dominated by catholics. There were plenty catholic nuns for instance working as instructors until recently. The presence of only catholic church but there was no Orthodox church or Mosque in z University is another proof. The Dr also states the availabilty of a well documented records that prove the largest number of Lecturers at the time of independence were from Akeleguzay region. It can also practically proved that most people in Akeloguzay are followers of Chatholic religion. Isn’t it? Can any one, forexample, deny the presence of a handful Muslim lectureres in the university of Asmara while the country’s pupulation is 50% muslim and 50% of christian? Why is the University dominated by Christians? The reason is the country’s dominant officials are christians. The same reason can be applied for the then Akeleguzay dominated University sttufs. I think the Dr have raised so many good points in his article and we must note them. Despite all the preceding issues, I would agree that the lecturers dismisal was unfair and lacked transparent. But for me this is not a pressing issue at the momment because many serious things are happening nowa days. If I allow my mind to listen for such less urgent matters at this critical time, I should also give my attention to various grievances raised by several Eritrean ethnic groups against Tigrina as well. Can any one is ready to entertain them now? I don’t think now is the time of judgement…so let’s put aside this relatively minor thing and join hands to topple z dictator in Eritrea….by then we can have z chance to address all related issues democratically…..otherwise we will end up in a circle of accusations and counter accusations instead of reserve our energy in uprooting z dictator….

    • Verify June 16, 2014

      Bravo , please refer how University of Asmara was established . I think from what you have written , you look a young generation . But google it .and you will see the history .

      When you say , there were a lot of Nuns and Akeleguzay , you look like a narrow minded gentel man / women !

      We are in 21st century , can we move on to other buring issue than talking outdate (1950-60) issues ?

      In the new Eritrea University must be privatized than run by government ! Education must be free of anything !

  • Simon G. June 16, 2014

    Dr Mohamed,
    As you can see from the comments on this forum, it doesn’t sound positive. My advice to you would be, to say you made a mistake, apologize on your mistakes (you can’t don on behalf of others), and continue with your opposing isayas’s administration.
    Everyone makes mistakes but how you address them later is what set you apart from the crowd. You have started the first phase but you need to close it properly.
    My two cents!

    • rahwa June 16, 2014

      weldu tekle anta ede
      hzbi kifelali keydekese zihadere
      Akologuzay ke entay weredeki
      adi lebamtn werazutn kemzeynebereki
      weldu tekle kelagxelki ywl lomi
      wedlu tekle mexe betru hizu kidbl
      Akologuzay zeliela men yu
      ane wedi men wedi men keleku
      bneger ztefeletku
      nbaesin koyokan wile zhadrelu
      tuta tuta
      Akologuzay kab Ertra tekorixa
      ms enat Ethiopia techemira ktnebr
      aleku ane tetabaki
      hzbi Eritrea entay yabs
      tuta tuta
      tmali bxerfin bguran
      lomi bhasotn bguran
      nEritrea keitwela ya fah btn
      Akologuzay ms enat Ethiopia keytechemeret
      wey ke dekise kihadr
      tuta tuta
      ane weldu tekle
      menakoti hzbi
      zeytexahfe zenbib behasot meskari
      flotuni lomi
      mezgbwo tarikey
      bneger yflet bneger yliley
      dil le enat Ethiopia
      weldu tekle (semhar (aka semira) simon g. haki nzareb…ms hamushte ashakrey)

      • Simon G. June 16, 2014

        ራህዋ:
        በጃኺ ኢለኪ ሽምኪ ቀይሪ። ኣይፈኾስክን ዶ? ናይ ብሓቂ ክቱር ጽልኢ ኣብ ልዕሊ ኣከለ ጉዛይ ከምዘለኪ ኣግሂድክዮ ሕጅስ። ይገርም ‘ዩ። ንዓኺ ምምላስ ናብ ደረጃኺ ምውራድ ስለዝኾነ: ምቁራጽ ይሓይሽ።

        • rahwa June 16, 2014

          the truth hurts. does it not? kkkkkk

          • Mehari T. Teklay June 16, 2014

            Rahwina, the truth is Seraye sebere, kirdad sebere are the worst and the lowest of poor Eritrea. Well known ONLY for neger, kayika, lemena and two faced scam bags. You only use them like a condom for your convenience (as they are cheap) and you damp them afterwards just like what Isaias did with that loser Naizghi Kifle. Rahwina, kebirkin rezinikin suk/tim tebelki yihishekin yimretselikin! hashaki rahwa, shikorina ‘bella chick’ timeslini zineberkis mis enda Seraye sebabat’ye kizamed zihasebku!!!! In short and in reality this is the truth whether you swallow it or deny it rahwina gaul kirdad sebere.

          • Simon G. June 17, 2014

            I would tell you the truth but you can’t handle the truth. Let me ask a waiver from the fine ladies of the house (Genet/Selemawit2/WaEro/Eritrawit) and lower myself to your level rahwa, just once. On the 2nd thought, it’s not worth it.

          • rahwa June 17, 2014

            Mehati T. Teklay,
            everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. i have always been against people who try incite hate and disunity. i have said time and again that such people need to stop playing with fire. and as they went on and on i have to talk to them in a language they understand. and they understood what i said this time round. that’s what i wanted. just remember everyone has awraja, adi, haymanot and biher. try to respect others or you have to live with the consequences. and by the way, i know the truth about seraye, your trying to distort it won’t cut it. so bullying me is useless. wedi shuk mehari mikrika hizka zewer bel. papagalo.

        • weyane donated independence June 16, 2014

          Simon G,

          Did you know it was me years ago in my comments I denounced Andebirhan’s idiotic & regionalist “izi yuniversiti ezi metsaweti akeleguzai aykewninyu” nonsense.

          • Simon G. June 17, 2014

            Mihretu,
            You probably had but I probably was not actively involved. I would praise you for that. I take it case by case. I have no personal hatred/grudge on individuals but on the subject.

      • Mahta June 17, 2014

        Mehari T Teklay,
        If you were one of the dismissed staff, I must say you deserve it not because of your region or religion but simply because you are stupid!

        • Mehari T. Teklay June 17, 2014

          Mahta,
          You are indeed ‘Tsemam hade deefu’ or alternatively shall we just say ‘seb xewAley tebelkus beAl beles’ about you! I believe, I described you before as a kebti and I stick to that description as you are truly kebti nay estalla that is the kebti nay estalla needs daily injections to operate normally. I will ignore you this time as you may have skipped your normal injections mahta adigi.

          • Mahta June 18, 2014

            Mehari T Teklay,
            anbesa anta kemey tekewen? adgi, kebti,sebab,tsemam, gelelemele…kendezi tserfi??abey dika tewelideka abe Qeblye nay dergi??? but now wonder hawu ne Wodu tecle abey keyteTEy…we said it before,eti tsgemekum kalae` eyu! My last advice to you is, you have all the right to be wegenawi….be wegenawi is not a crime but do it in your own place. Build University of Adi Keyeh and make sure that nobody come there, Not in Asmara!!

        • Mehari T. Teklay June 18, 2014

          Mahta,
          mahta Afari you never change, it is the same old shit head mahta the hatela. As you’ve been brought up with the leftover foods of the Mendefera Jeberti, you are bound to act like dogs that is it is expected the normal wuh wuh of your kind dogs that were fed riffraffs & terefmeref. We accept you just the way you are that is a damaged dog for life, so there is no need for you to act or over act as an intelligent dog! By the way, since when did the beautiful Asmara belong to the wild dogs? mahta Afari go on do show us your speciality of more ‘miEfar’.

          • Mahta June 19, 2014

            Mehari,
            heji ane, anta haswi,wedi kelbi,feger, agame, beale`kunti, gelemele ente belkuka tsebuk do? aytsebequn eyu, selzi aybelekan iye. Tserfi newri eyu!!

          • rahwa June 19, 2014

            Mahta,
            kem simka MAHTA ika! baal nska kuraat Ertrawyan ikum. hasibu zizareb, zizarebo meriet zeywedk mienti kulu wuxue dew zbl. Ahmed Saleh hawey kea alo kemaka. netom texarefti aytgedeselom. naay wn sebere ilomni indyom. kabu zibaalege wn asmiomni. bzeyegeds. eti adi sebere, adi atern tafn yu. eti agedasi kea neti abu zferi bkemey titkemelu iyu. Egziabher yu adi sebere geru fetiruwo.nsu zgebero dma kemindenegeru kikewn aykiln. slezi Mahta ab hakn nfitihn nkulu wuxue dew kab mbal aytebkur zhawey.

          • rahwa June 19, 2014

            why are you this desperate Mehari? what is this nonsense about Mendefera Jeberti? do you think the only haves are the Jeberti in Mendefera? why do you want to go there? Mahta nbeynka do gele ilu hishuk iluka yu weys ezi abzi zixhfo zelo iyu? zesdemim iyu. tiebitegna wedaki iyu, abyet we ayeriena bele Yemane Barya.

          • Mahta June 19, 2014

            Rahwa,This guys are funny!, you see because they didn`t like Andebrhan automatically they try to wage war on the whole region, if you fight with one of them they take like you fight with their whole region! that is how their mind operates!! even funnier is this people are like unversity atina temahirena zeblu sebat eyom! Mind you, I`m not even from Seraye, but we have to fight against all odds regardless!!No way that we have to be dominate by another sick people!!

        • rahwa June 19, 2014

          Mahta,
          let me tell you something. a while ago some commentator (semhar aka semira) known for her narrow-mindedness, dared to call the Seraye people to collaborate with the Akeleguzay people to stand against the Hamasien people. in shock i said i was from Seraye and responded to her stupid comment accordingly. i couldn’t believe that an Eritrean would say such a thing. but i was also shocked by other commentators who simply said nothing in reply to that shocking comment. as far as i am concerned we Eritreans are one people. and there is no way we could tolerate people who incite hate and disunity among us. we are not trying to remove one domination just to replace it with another no matter what. that is my stand and i stand with the majority of Eritreans there.

  • alem June 16, 2014

    We Eritreans have an amazing history of unity, looking after each other and not to mention telling the truth. Such history was intact until people like Dr. kier hijacked it and worked hard to turn the innocence of Eritreans to their advantage. I studied and worked at Asmara University and I was a witness to what happened during the dismissal of more than 30 faculty members and what followed after. The gist of the matter is about how to control the university and abolish the bylaws that governed the relationship between the administration and the faculty. When Andebrhan’s rule was challenged by the faculty, he resorted to three dangerous strategies. First he labeled the faculty who used to work at the university during the dergue regime as Catholics and Akeleguzai. Second he labeled them as incompetent and members of “ESEPA”. Third he energized the new comers from the University of Addis Ababa and Sudan to take power that according to his words was dominated by the faculty who used to work at the university before liberation. This is where the role of Dr. Kier came into light. Dr. Kier’s collaboration with Andebrahan was solely based on an interest in power grab. By the way he was not alone. Dr. Tesfayesus Mahari who never had any portfolio at Addis Ababa University except being a part-time instructor was another role player in the drama. It is true that in some colleges there was concentration of people from Akeleguzai. However I do not think this was done by design. It could be more to do with the history of the university than any favoritism in hiring. For instance during the dergue regime, when I was a student at the university, anyone who scored a higher GPA from the department was guaranteed to remain as instructor at the department. As a result there were as many Ethiopians teaching at the university as Eritreans. Any way Dr. Kier and others used Awrajawinet and their support from Andebrhan to grab the power and block recruitment of people from Akeleguzai to the university. I believe this is the major crime that was committed by Dr. Kier and others against young and vibrant students from Akeleguzai. So not only the dismissal of the university instructors but also the policy in place was designed to clean the university from Akeleguzai.
    Dr. Kier also talks about incompetence. If there was any incompetent person at the university it should be him. What he does not understand yet is he is calling a known physicist who was the only one of the two known physicist at the University of Addis Ababa who later came to the University of Asmara incompetent. He is calling an accountant who managed to fill the gap and continue serving the Eritrean people by establishing a business college at the heart of Asmara incompetent. I can still go on. What did Dr. Kier do to match the competence of those people? Dr. Kier tells us he went to Norway for research. Where is his publication? Does he know some of the people who were dismissed from the University of Asmara and managed to leave the country are now professors at ranked American and European Universities? What is he doing in Norway? Does he have a position or receiving monthly stipend from the government so that he can spit his poison?
    People like Dr. Kier destroyed our county and made us leave the country we love. Now they are following us to our countries of refuge and continue spitting their poisonous propaganda on us. We should not allow them to do that. If we do we know what is going to happen.
    Finally we are indebted to the institution that fed us, sheltered us and above all gave the lifelong knowledge that shaped our future life. I hope each of will get a change to pay back.

  • Mahta June 16, 2014

    I always wondered why we Eritreans always care about the time but not the truth? When ever any truth come to the surface, people want ask why now? why after 21 years? why after two years? why abe gezey natsenet? ironically, the time card is always played by the hgdf too, when the G13 write the letter why now abe werar kelena? when you ask about the constitution, again we are at war the timing is not good. When Tesafy Temenwo came with some hard reallity people were asking why after 40 year??? again there were why Q, for wedi vacaro, for Andberhan….the list will go on again and again. this time when the Dr came with a first hand evidence about the UoA, people are asking why after 21 years again??
    Folks, please don`t forget that, you have no right to choose for someone when he has to come! beside, there are people like me who is interested in the truth not the timing, if you think it is not the truth just challenge him but do it in more civilized way.

    • TwoWayStreet June 16, 2014

      Well put mahta,
      Let the truth come out at any time from anybody in any form. That will answer a lot of lingering questions, some will confirm that the Issayas’ tactics are not new, we just did not recognize them at the time.

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