Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): Another tale emerged from the University of Bahrain, the place where Bahraini competencies and minds should be prepared and developed, but it has become a place where they are buried alive.

We see the empowerment of strangers in a rapid fashion and perhaps it is no longer confined as the Bandar report revealed to the exclusion of Shiites, as there is something to suggest that there is a tendency to exclude Bahraini talent from both Sunnis and Shiites, and empower foreigners and newly naturalized citizens instead of the former.

Abdullah Mohammed Salem Al-Mzoghi, for instance, is an example of the empowerment of foreigners. He is a Libyan professor, who was hired to teach accounting at the university's business school. His academic performance was a disaster at all levels, even students were surprised at how this person was hired to teach them.

The University of Bahrain usually gives students an opportunity to evaluate their professors. Indeed, in the academic year 2012-2013, Abdullah Al-Mzoghi was assessed by his students in the accounting department at 15 out of 20, and at the level of the School of Business, he was evaluated by students at 51 out of 64. The conclusion of each assessment is that Abdullah Al-Mzoghi is one of the worst Professors of the Faculty of Business and Accounting Department.

The following semester, he was also poorly evaluated. At the department of accounting, his evaluation was rated at 13 out of 20, and at the whole school level it was rated at 53 out of 64.

Since he understands the game and has deep links with an Islamist movement in Bahrain, he had strong influence with the support of the Royal Court 2011-2012. Al-Mzoghi was able to advance and get promoted instead of falling, with the help of fellow Libyan academic Salem Ghumaid, a law professor.

Al-Mazoghi with Ghumaid formed a strong duo. The president of the university was like a shadow in front of the two, since he received instructions from outside the university that he could not reject.

When Ghumaid's influence became stronger, he became a legal advisor to the rector. His friend Al-Mzoghi was in a difficult position because of his disastrous performance professionally, yet Ghumaid was able to interfere once again and help the academically inept Abdullah Al-Mzoghi get promoted as head of the internal audit office at the university, despite the fact that he did not go through prior promotions required to reach that post and has no professional certificate that would qualify him for it either.

He now has access to the university's secrets and the finest details, and has continued to occupy this post so far, even though his friend Salem Ghumaid's violations have been exposed and the university has discovered his fraud and corruption.

The Civil Service Bureau objected to the appointment of Al-Mzoghii as the Director of Internal Audit, but the university administration treated the rejection of the Bureau as if it had not been issued in the first place. In fact, Al-Mzoghi continues to work in this position and receive a salary as director of that office to date. Ahmed Al-Zayed, the head of the Civil Service Bureau, was silent and remains to be as silent as a grave towards all the ongoing violations and scandals.

A few months ago, Abdullah Al-Mzogi asked for a leave from June 1 to September 1, three full months. He was given permission to take the leave with a full salary and allowances, which is a clear legal violation. To clarify what that means, here are numbers obtained by Bahrain Mirror:

The monthly salary of Abdullah Al-Mzoghi amounts to 2,390 dinars, with 600 dinars per month as housing allowance, 500 dinars as administrative bonus, 30 dinars as telephone allowance and 100 dinars as social allowance, totaling 3,620 dinars per month. That's not all.

Abdullah Al-Mzoghi has two children, and is given an education allowance for his two children, for each son 800 dinars per semester, which means that before each semester, he receives an amount of 1,600 dinars to pay for his children's education. Al-Mzoghi is given 20 dinars per month for transportation as well. He is also offered travel tickets once a year for him and his family.

The question here is: Did the foreign academics that the university favors over Bahraini citizens contribute to upgrading the university? The numbers have the answer. On June 20, Sweden-based Bahraini sociologist Abd Al-Hadi Khalaf posted statistics on his Twitter page conducted by one of the world's leading university assessment sites. The University of Bahrain was found to have fallen to the 801 rank among the world's universities. "According to the same index, it is now 100 ranks lower than it was last year," Khalaf said.

It is painful that Abdullah Al-Mzoghi, together with his friend Salem Ghumaid, dismissed a number of professors, including Dr. Fatima Mohammed Al-Maliki, who in turn filed a lawsuit. During the investigation, it was found that Salem Al-Ghumaid enjoyed the privileges of foreign professors, although he held the Bahraini nationality.

This is a new story added to the reign of the king, who excluded the people of his country and enabled strangers, a story that reveals the lie of naturalization of competencies, and reveals part of the era marked with the alienation of citizens.

Arabic Version