Gebru Asrat

Who is Gebru Asrat?

Gebru Asrat is a former president of Tigray Region and one of the top leaders and executive central committee member as well as politburo member of the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, and the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front.

Gebru was born in Mekelle, a city in Enderta county, part of Tigray province of Ethiopia and attended Atse Yohannes High School and Haile Selassie University at the height of the Ethiopian student movement of the early 1970s. After the TPLF defeated the Derg in the Ethiopian Civil War, Gebru became governor of Tigray. During Gebru's tenure as Governor of Tigray, a number of institutions of higher education, industries, hospitals and infrastructures were established. In 1993 Mekelle Business College and Mekelle University College were opened and in May 2000, by the merger of both Mekelle Business College and Mekelle University College, Mekelle University was formed becoming one of the leading higher instiutions in Ethiopia. A number of private colleges and technology institutions were also established including Mekelle Institute of Technology which specializes exclusively in Science and Technology which began its operation in early 2000s alleviateing educated professional shortages. Ayder referral hospital built under Gebru is one of the most advanced medical facility in the Northern part of the country and that it stands as the second largest hospital in the nation. With the total capacity of about 500 inpatient beds in four major departments and other specialty units along with six other affiliated hospitals in the Tigray region, the Ayder Referral Hospital is also used as a teaching hospital for the College of Health Sciences, Mekelle University. Having more than 45 specialists in the various areas of medical specializations and fairly adequate numbers of all the other health professionals constituting the health care team, the Hospital is now emerging as a shinning hot-spot for advanced medical care and treatment in the Northern parts of Ethiopia. The 1990s also saw the establishment of Messobo cement factory one of the leading cement production factories in the country, the construction of a new international standard airport, Alula Aba Nega Airport. Industries established during Gebru's tenure also include Mesfin Industrial Engineering, a steel fabrication and manufacturing factory, Adigrate pharmaceutical as well as Alamida textiles which employ thousands of workers throughout Tigray. A number of new roads were also built and old ones replaced.