Mekelle University president Dr. Fana Hagos gave a brief interview to Dimtsi Weyanne Television about the state of Mekelle University and its employees. She said the university has sustained huge material damage to the extent that some colleges are in a situation that cannot be used. She specifically mentioned that the damage to the College of Veterinary Medicine at kellamino Campus was extensive. The college’s expensive laboratory equipments and other properties have been destroyed, she said.
Speaking about the roughly 10,000 federal employees of the university, she said many have been harassed and subjected to unlawful imprisonments by the Ethiopian forces before their departure. Since their departure in may, the budget to the university has been suspended and the 10,000 federal employees haven’t been paid. The president said three employees have died in connection to the blockade and starvation, one of them due to lack of medication. She says the employees have been subjected to starvation and to psychological stress.
The president said the targeting of Tigray’s educational institutions are aimed at making sure Tigray doesn’t have educated manpower.
A recent assessment [see also here] by Tigray Bureau of Education on condition of schools in liberated areas of Tigray found that more than 88% classrooms and 95% their materials have been destroyed and vandalized. The assessment also said 1,911 students and 235 teachers and administrative staff have been killed.
The other three public universities of Tigray are in a much worse state than Mekelle University. Aksum and Adigrat Universities have been destroyed, looted and vandalized by Eritrean and Ethiopian forces.
