Smartly dressed in her light green coat suit as she faced the Senate Committee on Youth and Sports for a confirmation hearing on Monday, February 9, 2026, Minister-designate Cornelia W. Kruah called on senators not to judge her by age but rather by her decision and results. “Honorable Senators, I plan to be a youthful Minister. But I ask you: do not judge me by my age, and certainly not by my appearance. Judge me by my ideas. Judge me by my decisions. Judge me by my results,” Kruah stressed.
She told the senators that some have suggested that “My father’s position in government explains why I stand before you today, and why I shouldn’t. And that I am undeserving of this nomination.” Kruah also promised to be a youthful Minister. “I want to say this openly: I am proud to come from a family that removed barriers from my journey. But I am equally aware that without hard work, discipline, and competence, I would have squandered those opportunities. And I would not be seated here.”
She noted that the very pathways that her family and community helped create for her are the same pathways that are missing for hundreds of thousands of young Liberians. The Youth and Sports Minister-designate said she is fully aware of the enormous burden she carries and all the challenges confronting young people across the country. “To be nominated by the President at a critical moment like this for Liberia’s youth is the honor of a lifetime – an affirmation of his belief in my abilities and the firm faith in the power of the youth. This trust deeply humbles me. Thank you, Mr. President,” she noted.
According to her, when confirmed, she will work from day one to ensure the Ministry fulfills its mandate of coordinating youth and sports development nationally. She indicated that today’s task is the development of young people and youth development is no longer a supporting function of the Ministry and must become its central purpose.
Ms. Kruah observed that in a country where nearly 75 percent of the population is below 35, and over 40 percent below 18, youth development is not only a social issue but it is an economic imperative, governance necessity and a national survival necessity. “We must ensure that youth development takes on a new meaning, supported by ambitious planning, budgets that reflect demographic reality, and the courage to think differently. We must move from programs to architecture. To achieve this, I will champion what I call a Youth Outcome Compact – bringing together the Ministries of Youth and Sports, Education, Labor, Commerce, Finance, Health, Agriculture, Tourism Authority, and the Civil Service Agency because youth outcomes do not live in one ministry and they live across the government,” Kruah said. She disclosed that her administration will prioritize five pillars, including Governance and Systems Alignment, Architecture and Ecosystems, Sports for Development Financing and Resource Mobilization, among others.
