Corruption Models in Higher Education: Abood Al-Sawafi as a Nasty Example

Corruption Models in Higher Education: Abood Al-Sawafi as a Nasty Example “The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.” – Albert Einstein Page 1 of 18

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Published on June 16, 2020

Status is online

Ali Mansouri Writer, Researcher, Consultant

Introduction When we talk about Abood Al-Sawafi, we do not talk about a corrupt person appointed by mistake or by “wastta” (illegitimate favor) as the Vice-Chancellor of A’Sharqiyah University in Oman for several years and then he was sacked for his incompetence, thievery, forgery, fraud, and corruption. We are talking, in fact, about a “corruption model” whose attitudes, actions, and behaviors need to be analyzed and studied in order to help fight corruption in businesses and higher education institutions and pinpoint such nasty examples of corruption everywhere in the world.

Abood Al-Sawafi is not like “another human being” whom we meet in our life or career life and then to be left alone after being caught or sacked. Abood Al-Sawafi represents a corruption model which is more vicious and more dangerous than the COVID-19 pandemic.

In order to fight corruption, we need to learn lessons from his wrong appointment, his disastrous actions, the unprecedented trail of destruction he has left in many institutions, and the conspiracies he has made with the help of the Devil and other corrupt, wicked, vicious, and mean slaves like Hamed Al-Hajri for greedy, selfish, and destructive purposes. This is why we still need to talk about Abood Al-Sawafi even after his sacking. He represents a very nasty example of a ‘corruption model” that is very dangerous, albeit very common, especially in the Middle East. Abood Al-Sawafi is a real villain and one of the most wicked and vicious corrupt businessmen and higher education officials you may ever meet anywhere in the world.

Who is Abood Al-Sawafi?

Some time ago, a heavily-built person who looks like Idi Amin Dada of Uganda, was appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of the University. The man was “unknown” to us and few had ever heard of him. We were told the man “has got a Ph.D. in Engineering” from an Page 2 of 18

English-Speaking country. We felt hopeful that the man is “academically qualified” and “mentally equipped” for the job and may bring about positive changes to the University. I was working then as the Director of the Language Center and the Foundation Program.

In the first University Council meeting which this new VC chaired, he shocked all of us in an unbelievable way. He spent more than three hours talking about how we should intensify our efforts to “generate money for the investors” in order for us to keep our jobs; otherwise, we would lose our jobs one after the other!

He told us that in order to “generate money”, our departments and colleges should enter into “partnership” with the industry in spite of the fact that there is no industrial basis for anything in the area where the University is located. The University is located in a very remote area with few villages and a vast desert! Most of the population are peasants or camels’ breeders who have never seen a factory in their lives.

Then the “academically qualified” VC shocked us all further with his awkward, illegal, unreasonable and stupid proposal: he suggested that all teaching in the University should be done in Arabic not in English regardless of the fact that the University has been given official permission to operate on the condition that all teaching is to be done in English and that the University is an English-Medium higher education provider.

We vehemently objected to this proposal because it was illegal and it was also unreasonable as the vast majority of teachers did not know Arabic; those who knew Arabic were only two or three out of several hundred teachers. In response to our objections, the new VC told us: “It is not up to the University Council to decide whether the teaching is to be done in Arabic or English; it is up to the Board of Trustees”! Imagine that. The University Council, which is the highest academic authority at the university, is not authorized, according to this VC, to make decisions on academic issues though this authorization is clearly mentioned in the University Charter, Laws, and Bylaws.

The first thing he did was to refuse to buy the required textbooks and teaching materials for both the Foundation Program and the academic programs of the colleges.

So we thought there is something wrong with this man’s mentality, academic qualifications, and background. I had to do a little homework to find out something about the man. I found out that the man worked with his father as a logger in the jungles of Uganda and other parts of Africa for a number of years. This explains why he has a very heavily-built body like a logger, a wrestler, or a boxer. Then his family moved to Zanzibar where he worked, also with his father, as a fishmonger. This explains why he always behaves like a fishmonger rather than as an academic leader. After some time, he disappeared from the scene and later on, he appeared claiming he “was awarded” a Ph.D. in Engineering from an English-Speaking country in spite of the fact that he is incapable of producing one correct sentence in English and in spite of the fact that he hates the English Language very much! He was given a job in the Ministry of Information in Oman; the job has nothing to do with the field of engineering.

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After many years, he took up an administrative job at a college, then another administrative job at a university—in both cases, he never practiced or taught Engineering! Is his degree genuine or fake?

Characteristics of the Model The corruption model represented by Abood Al-Sawafi of A’Sharqiyah University in Oman is marked by a number of characteristics that may be attributed to beasts and monsters rather than human beings. This model is more vicious and more dangerous than the COVID- 19 pandemic. In fact, it is the most wicked and the most dangerous model of corruption in the Middle East and the world. We will summarize these characteristics below. 

Growing Long Beards

There is a tendency for corrupt people within this model, especially in the Middle East, to “grow long beards” in order to deceive naïve and simple people by pretending to be “pious, religious, and God-fearing” people. This does not mean that people with long beards fall within this model. There are very good, honest people with long beards and they are real human beings. But corrupt and very dishonest officials, especially in the Middle East, grow long beards for deception to make it easy for them to steal and cheat, to get away with their corruption, and to conceal their fraud, thievery, and forgery. Abood Al-Sawafi is one of those corrupt officials who have grown long beards for corruption purposes rather than being a pious and God-fearing person. He is dishonest, a big liar, a cheat, and merciless.

He is a blood-thirsty person who is prepared to suck your blood for a fistful of dollars. The story of A’Sharqiyah University Professor who was subjected to ill-treatment and starvation with his family is a very good example of the monster-like characteristics of Abood Al-Sawafi and the other corrupt people like Hamed Al-Hajri and Abdallah Al-Harthi within this model. The University professor had to pay a heavy price just because he stood up to Abood Al-Sawafi’s corruption, forgery, fraud, and thievery in spite of the fact that the professor was one of the best and most hard-working employees at the university and had served the University faithfully for many years. Just a few years before, it was the Professor who saved the University from total collapse. 

Corrupt officials within this model are stupid, unqualified, incompetent, reckless, and ruthless.

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When you talk to them, you feel they are very superficial people who do not have any knowledge about academic programs or academic issues. They are ignorant, vulgar, and rotten in mentality and uncivilized in behavior.

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Corrupt officials like Abood Al-Sawafi and Hamed Al-Hajri have zero work ethics.

This is quite understandable. If they had work ethics, they would not have been corrupt.

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Corrupt people within this model are wicked in every way imaginable. They lack integrity. They are dishonest in everything they say or do. They are cheats and big liars. They deceive everyone for their own personal gains and they tell lies all the time. They are disloyal to their country and to the organization they work for. They are loyal to the Devil and to their selfish interests. They steal money from the students, the University, the Ministry of Higher Education, and even from their own loyal employees. They are villains in every sense of the word.

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They indulge in a very unprofessional behavior of deception, cheating, and lying, especially to the University teachers, students, and members of staff. They never give correct and accurate information to the Ministry of Higher Education, the Board of Directors, or the Board of Trustees. They do not respect teachers and never honor the work contracts they themselves have signed on behalf of the University. For them, work ethics and the qualities of honesty, fairness, and justice do not exist in their dictionaries or in their lives or the workplaces they manage.

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They are crooked and prepared to deal with the Devil for their own selfish gains. They always create a toxic work environment in order to intimidate their employees and conceal their corruption and thievery.

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Because they are unqualified, incompetent, and corrupt, they are very impolite, vulgar, and uncivilized. They cannot stand any disagreement or argument.

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Because they are sick and used to be slaves, they treat the teachers and other employees like slaves. They, mistakenly, think that they “own” you as long as they pay you a salary. You feel humiliated and insulted when you talk to them or deal with them. And because they are academically and morally bankrupt, they spread a very disgusting culture of fear and hypocrisy.

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Teachers are constantly abused through stupid, silly, vulgar, and awkward directives from corrupt officials within this model. Most of these directives are disrespectful and threatening.

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Teachers and other members of staff are tied to the jobs by work contracts and obsolete practices remnants of the slavery practices of the Middle Ages!

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Corrupt businessmen and officials like Abood Al-Sawafi, Hamed Al-Hajri, and Abdallah Al-Harthi within this model believe in superstitions and nonsense. They wash their faces with camel’s urine and drink it for divine blessings. They think that camel’s urine will give them health and increase their wealth.

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They mistakenly believe that stealing from the Government or the company they work for is a sign of “cleverness” and “bravery” and even a divine duty because all the governments, according to them, are non-Islamic and illegitimate.

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They are very powerful and are illegally in control of many resources and financial means in the public and private sectors.

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The decisions taken by corrupt people within this model are almost always arbitrary and destructive and are mostly taken for selfish personal gains and against the general interests of the company or the organization. This is an absolute dictatorship at work.

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These arbitrary and destructive decisions create a very chaotic work environment where work ethics are non-existent and employees are treated like hired slaves or puppets or even beggars!

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Corrupt businessmen and officials within this model do not believe in transparency; they favor and encourage hypocrisy in the organization. This is Abood Al-Sawafi’s favorite game. He does not possess any leadership qualities and therefore cannot rule through transparency which he regards as a great danger to him.

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Corrupt businessmen and officials like Abood Al-Sawafi, Hamed Al-Hajri, and Abdallah Al-Harthi who are nasty examples of this model are very stingy and are prepared to suck your blood for a fistful of dollars.

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Corrupt businessmen within this model always try to make their employees and those around them lose hope of bringing about any positive change whatsoever. They demoralize their employees in order to control them and exploit them

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They are mostly racist and fascists. They hate expatriate workers and immigrants and regard them as a threat to their companies, organizations, and countries in spite of the great jobs and services done by the expatriate workers.

The following are some of the actions and behaviors that prove, beyond doubt, that Abood Al-Sawafi, Hamed Al-Hajri, and Abdallah Al-Harthi are no more than villains and a gang of thieves and mafia bosses who know nothing about work ethics and are prepared to crush anyone who stands on their way. All the documents and official letters are found at A’Sharqiyah University and in the Ibra Courts in Oman.

Where Did Students’ Laptops Go? During the Academic Year 2012-2013, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos, the late Sultan of Oman, granted a laptop to each student at A’Sharqiyah University in Oman. A Distribution Committee was formed from officials representing the Ministry of Higher Education and officials representing the Department of Student Affairs at A’Sharqiyah University. The Page 6 of 18

Committee did a very good job and each and every student received a laptop. The students were very happy and so were the teachers. The laptops were very helpful in our teaching and in enhancing the quality of academic interaction between the teachers and the students. Then came Abood Al-Sawafi (former VC) and Hamed Al-Hajri (Assistant VC) to destroy this generous grant. Instead of distributing the laptops to the students, they decided to distribute them to the teachers. This was a repulsive decision that annoyed both the teachers and the students. I raised this point in an official meeting with both Abood Al-Sawafi and Hamed AlHajri. They replied that the laptops were not granted to the students; they were granted to the teachers! This was completely false and a mere fabrication. The grant was instructed personally by His Majesty the late Sultan and the first batch of students received their own laptops, so how could the grant be diverted to the teachers. It turned out the University was supposed to buy laptops to the teachers to assist them in teaching and tutoring. So instead of buying laptops for the teachers from the University’s budget, Abood Al-Sawafi and Hamed Al-Hajri decided to cancel His Majesty’s grant and stop distributing the laptops to the students.

As we have heard, later on, the grant was supposed to have continued up to now! All the students at A’Sharqiyah University are to get personal laptops to assist them in their learning and academic tasks and assignments. This was a great, generous decision. But, being greedy, short-sighted, and corrupt, Abood Al-Sawafi and Hamed Al-Hajri stole all students’ laptops and deprive our students of distance learning, especially during this COVID-19 crisis.

Disrespect of Specialization Abood Al-Sawafi hates specializations and specialized people in a very strange way. This is a sharp indicator that this man has nothing to do with knowledge or science or the academic world; he has come directly from the jungle.

Instead of teaching the language skills by specialized teachers using very relevant and attractively designed books from international publishers, Abood Al-Sawafi has decided to use only one book. He replaced the Foundation Program Syllabus approved by the Oman Ministry of Higher Education with a very weak syllabus lower than that of an intermediate school—just to make more money. He would argue that University students cannot study more than one book in the academic year. Have you ever heard such nonsense from a ViceChancellor of a University?!

Abood Al-Sawafi went even further. He has divided the Foundation Program students into groups and assigned two teachers for each group. These two teachers have to teach their specific group all the Foundation Program courses (Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing, Study Skills, Grammar, etc.) even the courses which do not fall within the academic Page 7 of 18

specializations of the teachers. The Program has been drastically reduced in terms of scope, hours, teaching materials, quizzes, tests, and exams. It no longer covers all the English Language skills as it used to do. This has been a real disaster for the Foundation Program at A’Sharqiyah University.

The Program was of very high quality and was effective in helping students attain the prescribed student learning outcomes in at least four areas of learning: English, Mathematics, Computing and IT, and General and Academic Study Skills. It was very popular among students and their parents and the University gained a very good academic reputation for it.

Students used to refuse to move to other colleges and universities without completing the Foundation Program at the University. Then came the corrupt logger VC, Abood Al-Sawafi, and his camels’ breeder Assistant VC, Hamed Al-Hajri. They illegally canceled the Foundation Program in violation of all the legal obligations of the University towards its students and their genuine interests and in defiance of the Ministry of Higher Education and all accreditation authorities.

The first Director of the Foundation Program was a competent and qualified academic who holds a Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics and TESOL from an English-Speaking country. He was running the Foundation Program efficiently as per the directives of the Ministry of Higher Education in Oman. There was no forgery of grades and there was no corruption in the Language Center. Then came Abood Al-Sawafi and Hamed Al-Hajri. Instead of appreciating the hard work and the unique efforts done by the Director, his work contract was not renewed in spite of the fact that the University was in urgent need of his experience, expertise, and services. All this because he stood against their attempts to destroy the Foundation Program and replace it by a mere collection of elementary handouts that have nothing to do with the Program. He also stood against their forgery of students’ grades and thievery. So he had to pay the price and lose his job.

A little man with a zero-experience in running a language center or a foundation program was appointed as the New Director of the Language Center and Foundation Program after the position was left vacant for almost two years. As per the requirements of the job advertised by the University itself, the Director should have a Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics or TESOL and should have at least five years’ experience in running a language center or a foundation program. The logger VC appointed the little man based on his personal relationship with him without any regard for the academic and experience requirements of the job. This tells us very clearly that a person appointed on a senior position without having the right credentials and leadership qualities does not care or respect academic specializations. The little man made a mess of everything in the Language Center and Foundation Program. He was unable to get on well with the teachers and students who made too many complaints against him because he was incompetent and inexperienced. After a few months, he was made to leave the University.

So what has been left of the original Foundation Program? Nothing at all -- just garbage! The Program is now in shambles; it has no beginning and no end and has no educational goals or Page 8 of 18

strategies. The aim is now just to make the students pass this “garbage thing” to satisfy the requirement imposed by the Ministry of Higher Education that all students should pass the Foundation Program before registering for their academic studies. The Placement Test is also now controlled by the logger VC Abood Al-Sawafi and his camels’ breeder Assistant VC Hamed Al-Hajri who is prepared to cancel the Test for anyone ready to pay a good bribe to them!

Disrespect of Work Contracts Abood Al-Sawafi signed a work contract with the former Director of the Language Center and Foundation Program for the academic year 2014-2015. There were six months left before the end of the contract when Abood Al-Sawafi issued a university directive No. 50 to move the former Director of the Language Center and Foundation Program and replace him by an unqualified teacher who does not know his head from his bottom! Abood Al-Sawafi asked the Director to form a team to do the course descriptions of the academic programs for a new college to be named “College of Arts and Humanities”. There was an uproar among the Language Center teachers and staff as this step was very unreasonable and dangerous. The Director was the dynamo of the Language Center and they badly need him for guidance, management, and planning. In order to meet this uproar, Abood Al-Sawafi called for a meeting with all the teachers on 10 June 2015 and officially informed them that the Director would be promoted to be the Dean of a new college at the university and he was assigned the hard task of designing the feasibility study and the academic programs for the new college.

The Director worked very hard with his team for about two months and submitted the feasibility study and the completed documents of course descriptions and academic programs.

Instead of keeping his word, Abood Al-Sawafi terminated the work contract of the Director.

Abood Al-Sawafi has thus proved himself a dishonest man without a word and without honor.

After almost a year since the end of the working relationship between the Former Director and A’Sharqiyah University, Abood Al-Sawafi posted an advertisement in a local Arabic newspaper claiming that the former director, who was a professor, “has run away from work and no one should employ him.”!

Imagine yourself a university professor and your work relationship with your university has officially ended and you have an official letter from the university itself to this effect. Then after a year, they put an ad on a local newspaper with your picture on it saying “this worker (professor) has run away from the university and should not be given work by another employer” as if the university professor were a manual worker working on a farm! This is really insulting and very offensive to all university professors and educators and to the higher education system in Oman and the world.

Disregard for Transparency, Law, and Regulations

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Rules and regulations are essential tools to keep work moving smoothly. Abood Al-Sawafi has become an “expert” in stifling transparency and fostering a disgusting culture of fear.

Transparency has been replaced by what is mistakenly called the “respect" for confidentiality and the "secrets" of the organization, though these so-called “secrets” are merely information and guidelines needed by the teachers and staff to do their job properly. The values of honesty, justice, and fairness have become words difficult to understand, let alone to be practiced. Abood Al-Sawafi would tell you to your face: “I am the decision-maker and I will do what I want.” This is all done in the name of A’Sharqiyah University. Everything is secretive and confidential. He pays only lip-service to the concept of transparency. Most employees do their routine jobs blindly as they are told and many teachers think that their job is just to go to class and teach the textbook and submit the marks the students have got by hook or by crook. Employees and teachers are too frightened to speak up their minds.

Transparency is not something Abood Al-Sawafi is after or something he needs to worry about; he is too impolite and vulgar to be ashamed of anything.

Corruption does not exist in a vacuum. It is usually committed by senior managers who cheat the systems of control and supervision and do not respect any laws or regulations. They are usually entrusted with a range of executive powers but they always betray this trust and go beyond these powers for selfish and wicked purposes.

You just do not know why and who has given Abood Al-Sawafi these powers. He acts as a thug and as a bully and as a mafia boss. He does not care about any laws, bylaws, charters or regulations. He always puts himself “above the law” and he has bizarre impunity! He is not held accountable by anyone for anything illegal or harmful he has done to the University and its reputation.

Abood Al-Sawafi is a real beast who should not be trusted with public duty in any way. He is prepared to harm and destroy anyone who stands on his way of corruption, thievery, fraud, and deception. He does not care about any laws, bylaws, charters, or regulations in any public or private institution. He has always put himself “above the law” because he has bizarre impunity from prosecution! He is not held to account by anyone for anything illegal or harmful he has done to any individual or institution or even the country. Abood Al-Sawafi does not care about what is honest and what is dishonest, what is legal, and what is illegal.

Whenever I used to draw his attention to the necessity of getting permission and approval from the Ministry of Higher Education or the appropriate educational or government authorities for any serious academic changes, he used to laugh and say shamelessly: “I am the Vice-Chancellor. I can do whatever I want.” Then he would point to his pockets and say: “Here is the Ministry of Higher Education.” meaning the Ministry and the Government are there in his pockets! Never have I seen before such a reckless, disrespectful, and rogue senior executive in any company or a higher education institution. He can do whatever he likes and can steal money in different ways from the public sector or the private sector companies and institutions without being held accountable to anyone. Bravo, Mr. Abood Al-Sawafi. You and your Ministry of Higher Education should be ashamed of yourselves.

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Abood Al-Sawafi has thus been given a ‘blank check’ to be corrupt the way he likes without any consideration for any code of work ethics or moral values. This is why he used to behave in a reckless and ruthless way against the teachers and students as he mistakenly believes he is absolutely above the law.

Forgery of Grades and Receipts There is a great deal of forgery and deception that have been going on since Abood Al-Sawafi was appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of A’Sharqiyah University. There has been forgery of students’ grades, employees’ salaries, purchase receipts and documents, teachers’ qualifications, tuition fees, numbers of students at the colleges, HR documents, financial statements and bank accounts, salaries, and bonuses.

Unfortunately, the Chief Internal Auditor was conspiring with Abood Al-Sawafi to write dishonest reports to conceal this forgery and deception in return for a very large salary and the renewal of his work contract. He receives the second-highest salary at the University, after his corrupt boss Abood Al-Sawafi, with many allowances and bonuses. He is also rewarded by reporting to work only once or twice a week.

It was not a great shock to me, therefore, to find out that Abood Al-Sawafi had forged his son’s (Salem Al-Sawafi’s) grades and placed him on the Advanced level of the Foundation Program instead of the Intermediate level because I knew that Abood Al-Sawafi has always been, and will always be, a rogue and corrupt person. He has always forged students’ grades and documents wherever he takes up a senior position that enables him to do so in any college or a university in Oman.

There is a Purchase Department (Procurement Department) at A’Sharqiyah University as is the case with any company or higher education institution. This department is in charge of purchasing what the University needs for its operations as an academic organization. Of courses, there is money to be paid and there are receipts to be presented as proofs of purchase. Almost all the receipts of purchases are forged by Abood Al-Sawafi and Hamed AlHajri with the help of some staff members who are afraid to object or stand against this forgery. The prices in the forged receipts are inflated. Abood Al-Sawafi and Hamed Al-Hajri would charge the University a great deal more than the actual prices of these receipts.

Embezzlement of Money Abood Al-Sawafi has embezzled huge amounts of money from A’Sharqiyah University and the Ministry of Higher Education in Oman.

One day, the Chief Internal auditor at the University, “spilled the beans” - he told me a secret, out of stupidity and showing off. He told me that he caught one of the accountants with a “special account” of more than a million Omani Rials (about $2.6 million) which he was using for his own interests and expenses in the name of the University. In other words, the Page 11 of 18

accountant was caught in the act of embezzling money from the budget of the university, but the Chief Internal Auditor did nothing to report him. Does anyone believe that an accountant at a university can have a “special account” with this huge amount of money without the approval and knowledge of Abood Al-Sawafi (VC) and Hamed Al-Hajri (Assistant VC for Administration and Finance) who have always been in full control of everything at the university? If this accountant was able to hold a special account with about three million US dollars, what then about Abood Al- Sawafi and Hamed Hajri themselves? How many “special” bank accounts with how many millions of dollars did they have? How much money does Hamed Al-Hajri embezzle every day from the University? This is a blatant example of embezzlement and corruption that the Chief Internal Auditor and his team should have reported to the Board of Directors and Board of Trustees unless they know everything and are themselves, corrupt people.

Abood Al-Sawafi, the VC of A’Sharqiyah University and Hamad Al-Hajri, his Assistant VC have always refused to buy new textbooks for the Foundation Program students in spite of the fact that they receive the costs of the books from the Ministry and from the self-sponsored students. By all definitions and criteria, this is a theft during the light of the day. They are receiving the cost of the books but they are not buying any! Instead, they instruct the teachers in the Foundation Program to use the same copies of the books year after year. This has been going on for many years and because of the repeated re-use, the books have become very old, worn-out, and unsuitable for teaching and learning. All the exercises in the books had been solved by former students so the new students do not find these exercises challenging or useful for learning English as the exercises contain all the answers. This has been one of the reasons for the deteriorating level of learning English in the Foundation Program in A’Sharqiyah University and the underachievement of the students in the academic studies in the colleges.

Bribery Abood Al-Sawafi takes bribes from as many people as he can deceive. He takes bribes from teachers, students, investors, and even the bus drivers who sign contracts with A’Sharqiyah University to transfer students from the dormitories to the University and vice versa.

Abood Al-Sawafi used to go on expensive, luxurious, and useless trips around the world at the expense of A’Sharqiyah University wasting the shareholders’ money as well as the public money. Most of the students’ tuition fees at A’Sharqiyah University are paid by the Ministry of Higher Education in Oman as per the “internal scholarship scheme” whereby large numbers of Omani students pursue their higher education at the expense of the Ministry.

Abood Al-Sawafi did not use to go alone. He used to take some members of the Board of Directors and Board of Trustees on these trips as a way of “bribing” them to keep them silent and to be complacent about his corruption. Where is the Chief Internal Auditor? Where is his courage and where are his independent, objective reports?

Destroying the HR Department Page 12 of 18

The HR Department is regarded as one of the most important departments in any higher education institution or organization. It has all the information about the teachers, members of staff, and other employees.

We take it for granted that the HR Director is a qualified, skilled, and experienced professional who is prepared to work in accordance with the laws, bylaws, regulations, and the Code of Work Ethics. He is supposed to put the genuine interests of the organization and the employees above any directive that may require him to ignore these interests.

The HR officers are also expected to be qualified, skilled, and experienced. They should behave in a friendly, polite way and cooperate with all employees and protect any professional or personal information.

Regrettably, Abood Al-Sawafi and Hamed Al-Hajri have turned the HR Department at A’Sharqiyah University into a “wastebasket’ stuffed with people who have nothing to do with HR or the academic world. The HR Director always has communication problems. He is unable to produce one good directive or email in English or in Arabic to tell the employees what is required of them to do. He is always confused and looks at you in bewilderment like a lost fool when you visit him in his office.

The HR officers are unqualified, incompetent, unprofessional, and very unfriendly, exactly like their boss Abood Al-Sawafi. At A’Sharqiyah University in Oman, it has become a common practice to stuff the HR department with the most unqualified, incompetent, and stupid people you may ever find in any higher education institution anywhere in the world.

They are very disorganized and repeatedly ask you for the same information. This is very tiring and irritating for anyone whose job requires him to deal with them. They always lose information and data. The experience of the HR Director is restricted to a few years in a bakery or raising chickens on a private farm. The HR officers are no better than him; many of them with only some experience as taxi drivers or shop assistants selling automobile spare parts. This has always been a deliberate policy of Abood A-Sawafi and Hamed Al-Hajri: to appoint unqualified, incompetent, and stupid people in the sensitive departments of the University in order to fully control them and suppress any form of objection to their fraudulent practices and corruption.

Abood Al-Sawafi has turned the HR officers at the University into slaves and robots who blindly follow his orders even if they are in violation of the laws, bylaws, and regulations of the University. They indulge in a very unprofessional behavior of deception, cheating, and lying. They never give correct and accurate information and often fabricate reports against the teachers and employees at the request of Hamed Al-Hajri who is very wicked and a real villain seeking to eliminate anyone with the courage to stand on his way of deception, thievery, fraud, forgery, and corruption.

Academic Vandalism

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From the first days of his appointment as the Vice-Chancellor of A’Sharqiyah University in Oman, Abood Al-Sawafi with his "fish market" mentality started taking steps so incredible that no one outside of the campus would believe you when you tell them. He started by drastically "reducing" all the salaries, increasing the teaching load of the faculties in the different colleges and departments, and cutting off the number of books being in use, especially in the Foundation Program which is so essential to any successful start-up higher education institution. He replaced all western-educated Ph.D. holders by M.A. teachers who hold degrees and certificates from non-recognized or substandard institutions and who cannot speak in an intelligible accent nor can they produce one good sentence in English. He is so stupid that he does everything contrary to all the established principles, values, and work ethics in the academic world. Almost all the Foundation books are damaged or very old with all the exercises already answered so they are useless. He has refused to buy new books because, as he always used to say, this costs money though the Ministry of Higher Education in Oman and the self-sponsored students themselves pay for the full costs of these books.

There are many teachers who do not follow the official timing of lessons or lectures. They come late to classes and leave after teaching for a short time; maybe 20 minutes or 30 minutes instead of the official timing of 100 minutes! Some teachers have even been skipping their lessons. Do not be surprised because Abood Al-Sawafi himself is a big liar, a cheat and a dishonest person. His "obsession" with money has blinded him completely. In all his meetings and discussions, the only thing which matters to him is money, money, and more money. He has really destroyed A’Sharqiyah University as a higher education institution.

Instead of attracting students to the university, a large number of students have dropped out or left for other colleges and universities. When you talk to him, you feel he is a very “superficial person”. He does not have the slightest knowledge of academic programs or academic issues. What is more than worse is that he behaved like a child! In all meetings, he would play with his mobile most of the time like a child making the attendees feel insulted and disrespected.

Abood Al-Sawafi: Racist and Fascist Abood Al-Sawafi is originally a black person from Zanzibar in Tanzania which is an African country. He has been granted the Omani citizenship for one reason or another though he does not deserve this citizenship nor does he respect the great human values of Omanis. It is, therefore, very abnormal to see him racist and fascist in the strict sense of the words. We do not expect this from a black immigrant from Africa. But this is the bitter reality which is very regrettable and is certainly an abnormal and abhorrent exception. He hates expatriate teachers, workers, and other workers at A’Sharqiyah University and in Oman. He is prepared to starve them and their families to death. This is what he did to a University Professor who had the courage to stand against his forgery of students’ grades including his son’s (Salem AlSawafi) grades. As the Vice-Chancellor of A’Sharqiyah University, he refused to pay the Professor’s salaries for two years just because the Professor took him to court for corruption and for refusing to pay him the end-of-service gratuity. He even refused to pay for the air tickets of the Professor and his family as per the Oman Labor Law. The Professor had to pay for these tickets to return to his country.

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After almost a year since the end of the working relationship between the Professor and A’Sharqiyah University, Abood Al-Sawafi posted an advertisement in a local Arabic newspaper claiming that the Professor, “has run away from work and no one should employ him.”! Abood Al-Sawafi would never dare to do that to any Omani teacher or employee at the university or elsewhere. This proves, beyond doubt, that he is racist and fascist to his toes.

I still remember an official meeting with Abood Al-Sawafi when he was the Vice-Chancellor of A’Sharqiyah University in Oman. We were discussing the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis for A’Sharqiyah University. We were all shocked and stunned when he described the expatriate professors and employees at A’Sharqiyah University and in Oman in general as a “threat” to the University and to Oman in spite of the fact that the expatriate professors and employees were making up about 99% of the University teaching and administrative staff at that time. Abood Al-Sawafi has exactly the same racist and fascist mentality as that of any racist and fascist person who hates expatriate workers and immigrants and regard them as a threat to his company, organization, and country. Abood Al-Sawafi should be ashamed of himself for his racism and fascism which are incompatible with the Omani culture and values.

Chaos and Destruction After five dark barren years, Abood Al-Sawafi left A’Sharqiyah University. He was sacked or made to resign leaving a trail of destruction and chaos everywhere. Everything was going upside down. He has completely destroyed the Foundation Program making it a pile of garbage. The students come and go gaining nothing from a program far below even the level of English they had already studied in schools.

Abood Al-Sawafi has also destroyed the academic programs of the colleges and reduced them to rubbles. Imagine a university program that consists of just useless presentations and tiny handouts illegally photocopied from some chapters of books and paid for by the students though most of these students are rather poor and cannot afford to pay for these handouts.

Abood Al-Sawafi, together with his stupid and corrupt Assistant VC Hamed Al-Hajri, has spread a culture of fear, intimidation, and conspiracies unprecedented before in any higher education institution in Oman and the Middle East. They have confiscated the dignity and self-respect of the teachers and employees reducing them to a collection of hypocrites, puppets, robots, and slaves, in violation of all academic conventions and work ethics of higher education institutions.

The complexities of a global and dynamic business world, where non-economic and economic concerns coexist, give ethics a vital role in guiding human action, always with the potential for human excellence in mind. This is the humanistic view of management which is always ignored by stupid, incompetent, and vulgar senior managers in businesses and organizations. This naturally costs the organization a great deal of its reputation, image, and human resources as it has been happening with A’Sharqiyah University in Oman.

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There is hardly any freedom of expression, academic or non-academic, of any sort at work The moment you disagree with Abood Al-Sawafi or give a different opinion, you should expect your work contract to be terminated or not renewed even if you are right and your opinions are in line with the official standards and guidelines, and even if your skills and services are badly needed by the University.

I was really shocked at the ability of Abood Al-Sawafi to take arbitrary and wrong decisions against his colleagues and against the general interests of the students and the university without being held accountable for anything. He used to chair the University Council Meetings and discuss the agenda at length. Then he used to go to his office and take arbitrary, stupid, and destructive decisions alone without consulting the University Council members using fabricated documents that his corrupt Assistant VC, Hamed Al-Hajri, had prepared in advance. This used to create a toxic atmosphere at the University. Many high-quality academics and members of staff would not stand such nonsense and left their jobs.

All the international requirements and benchmarks have been canceled by Abood Al-Sawafi.

The benchmarks are now “absolute zero”: no TOEFL, no IELTS, no Cambridge Certificate, no ICDL, no IC3 – nothing at all! What is the worth of a program or a degree without any international benchmarks?

Conclusions It is generally observed that corruption and the absence of justice can be done by some people who are entrusted with the senior management of the business or institution but they are not worthy of this trust.

There are too many episodes and documents certifying that Abood Al-Sawafi is very stupid, incompetent, reckless, ruthless, and corrupt. He has inflicted heavy damages on A’Sharqiyah University in Oman. The Board of Directors and Board of Trustees bear the official, academic and moral responsibility in appointing such an idiot as the Vice-Chancellor of A’Sharqiyah University which certainly deserves better than this idiot to be its top executive.

This idiot is not fit to manage and lead a higher, or lower, educational institution. He is fit to manage a farm for camels or cattle or, at best, fit to be a “garbage collector”.

Higher education is a lucrative business all over the globe. But, as with any business, there are rogue senior managers, Boards of Directors, and Boards of Trustees who have no moral values or work ethics. All they are after is making huge profits at the expense of our students and their families. This is why we need to stand up and expose these wicked, dishonest, and selfish managers.

Abood Al-Sawafi is a real villain in every sense of the word. He knows the differences between right and wrong, good and evil, honest and dishonest, legal and illegal, halal (legitimate), and ‘haram” (illegitimate). But he does not care. He cares only about how to

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accumulate his haram wealth and achieve their selfish and wicked objectives. He is prepared to deal with the Devil for this purpose and mislead people that it is a natural transaction.

It is a grave misconception for Abood Al-Sawafi to think that he can do anything he wants at A’Sharqiyah university and get away with it. This is completely misguided. When teachers and employees are unfairly treated or their rights are taken away, they would do a great deal of harm to the company or institution. They can damage the reputation and spoil the image of the organization in different ways; sometimes beyond repairs. The best approach for managing people in businesses and organizations is, therefore, to be fair, objective and consistent following the codes of work ethics, moral values, and international standards of management practice. Only a bad, stupid, incompetent, reckless senior manager like Abood Al-Sawafi who behaves like a mule does not understand this fact.

Abood Al-Sawafi is notorious for his unprofessional behaviors of deception, cheating, and lying. He never gives correct and accurate information to the Board of Directors and Board of Trustees. He always fabricates reports about the teachers and employees to eliminate anyone who has the courage to stand on his way of deception, thievery, and corruption, and renew the work contracts of bad and incompetent teachers in exchange for money, sex, and other favors.

Being motivated by greed and avarice, Abood Al-Sawafi has a lot of misconceptions about running a business or managing a multi-cultural team in a higher education institution. Being a coward and is used to humiliation and insults by his superiors, he mistakenly believes that he can mistreat his employees in the same way he is himself mistreated by his bosses.

Abood Al-Sawafi uses camels’ urine to wash his face and drink it for “divine blessings”. He mistakenly believes that the camels’ urine will give him health and increase his wealth. Do you think that such a person with a rotten head full of bizarre superstitions and garbage has work ethics and can run a modern, academic institution of higher education like a university?!

Abood Al-Sawafi has destroyed A’Sharqiyah University in Oman in an unbelievable way and has set up a very nasty example of a crooked, corrupt top manager. He has violated all the basic principles, conventions, regulations, laws, and bylaws of higher education in Oman and the world. He should be exposed and stand trial for his corruption. He is disloyal to A’Sharqiyah university. He is loyal to the Devil and to his selfish interests. For him, work ethics and the values of honesty, fairness, and justice do not exist in his life or the workplace he is supposed to manage in a fair way.

A’Sharqiyah University has become, in every sense and aspect, a workplace for slavery and bribery; a toxic work environment full of corruption and hypocrisy. There has been a widespread culture of fear and widespread forgery of students’ grades. Medical insurance is almost non-existent for the university teachers and members of staff. Abood Al-Sawafi is the worst example of an ignorant, incompetent, unqualified, stingy, and corrupt senior manager you may ever find running a business or a university. What Abood Al-Sawafi has done is a Page 17 of 18

disgrace and will forever remain a stain on the name, image, and reputation of A’Sharqiyah University and Oman.

‫ ما هكذا دتوُرردد يا سعدد البإل‬:‫!وقديماا قالت العرب‬

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