Houthi dispute over a virtual project on the land of Sana'a University (document)

A dispute broke out between leaders of the Houthi militia over the ownership and funds of a virtual project in whose name the militia seized vast areas of Sana’a University’s properties.

A document issued by the so-called CEO of the Medical City and Pharmaceutical Industry, Abdo Ali Hadi, addressed to the militia’s Investment Authority, stated that the (virtual) project is financially and administratively independent.

Hadi said in the document issued on August 16, which Yemen Youth Net reviewed, that the amounts ordered to be disbursed by Mahdi al-Mashat, head of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, from the authority’s account to cover the establishment expenses (are a loan that will be repaid from the project’s funds later).

He explained that the Authority has not yet disbursed any funds, nor has it provided any operating expenses or other necessary services for operation.

The document indicates that the Ministry of Finance and the Houthi Investment Authority have submitted numerous objections to the nature of the questionable project, while Abdo Hadi rejects any oversight, guardianship, or interference from either party on the project.

Hadi demanded that the Houthi Investment Authority stop placing obstacles in the way of his project (Sana'a Natural City at Sana'a University, and the Pharmaceutical Industrial City in Bani Matar), and pay the amount transferred by Al-Mashat, pledging to pay it immediately upon receiving the project funds from the financiers (he did not name them).

It is noteworthy that the Houthi leader, Mahdi Al-Mashat, had directed last May to hand over 10,000 bricks from the lands of Sana'a University to the project, which many observers doubted the possibility of its implementation and saw as a front for looting those lands.