Faculty and administrators at Garissa University College returned to work on 4 January, nine months after a bloody massacre of mainly Christian students by Somalia’s al-Shabaab militants forced its closure.
Only about 60 students were expected to attend on the day when classes resumed. Before the attack, the university had about 800 students.
Roman Catholic Bishop Joseph Alessandro of the Garissa Diocese welcomed the reopening but said that only local people, mainly Muslims, were arriving at the institution, the only university in the largely Muslim north. ‘Christians’, he added, ‘are still scared. We hope they will soon join’.
Scars and wounds
Student survivors of the attack are unlikely to return to the college, according to George Ogalo, national director of Fellowship of Christian Unions, an umbrella organisation at Kenyan universities and colleges. The union worked with the student survivors of the attack.
‘It is too early to imagine the same students would go back. They have scars and wounds both physically and psychologically, which are still too fresh’, said Ogalo. He added that the college should reopen with new students and the Government should move to assure the students on their security.
A police station has been set up within the campus. The Government promised to erect a security wall around the school as well, said Ahmed Osman Warfa, a university don.
