Assistant Minister for Information Services at the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism, Matthew Nyanplu, has tendered his resignation barely a day after being suspended for apparently speaking against an allegedly fake US$25 million scholarship deal by the Government of Liberia.
According to an Executive Mansion release dated November 16, 2024, the disciplinary action against Assistant Minister Nyanplu stemmed from his breach of intra-agency communication protocols, sidestepping of norms of best practice, and acts unbecoming of a government official, especially one in the capacity as a spokesman.
The release said Nyanplu will serve the suspension without pay and will be subjected to an investigation to determine the need for further action.
Nyanplu’s suspension, according to the release, arises squarely out of his brazen disregard of established channels, not the merits or demerits of the issues he highlighted.
Due to the suspension of the Assistant Minister, President Boakai has meanwhile cautioned officials of government to always strive to scrupulously uphold standing precepts governing internal operational procedures and general policy direction of their institutions.
But in his resignation letter to the president on Sunday, November 17, 2024, Nyanplu said he had committed no wrong to necessitate such action against him and feels very unjustly targeted by some powerful people who are in the inner circle of the president because of a critical post on Facebook of November 15, 2024 denouncing the national disgrace that the Foreign Minister has brought upon our country, by her unqualified association with NEKOTECH and her premature and deceptive announcement of a $25million “work-study-loan'” program for 250 Liberians in the United States.
Nyanplu said his decision to come out publicly to save Liberians from this extortion is in accordance with Section 5(1)(d) of the Whistleblower Protection Law of Liberia, which protects public officials who disclose information when the health or safety of individuals is at risk.
He said it is his moral and professional obligation to act in the public interest under every circumstance, and cannot in good conscience stand by while Liberians are misled into pursuing a program that offers none of the benefits it promises as NEKOTECH “work-study” program endangers the economic security of Liberians.
“The Foreign Minister made you attend and preside over the launch of a program that is charging Liberians at least $236 for preparatory support to submit graduate school applications to graduate schools in the United States. And that these Liberians will be granted admissions to study in the US and have the opportunity to work for three years in the United States after their course of studies in STEM programs. The Foreign Minister did announce at the MICAT briefing on November 5, that the Government of Liberia had secured this opportunity for Liberians and that the first batch will be processed for January 2025 intake and possible intake for another batch in September 2025,” the resigned assistant minister to the president.
Nyanplu said the initiative is charging money to Liberians when the Foreign Minister told the nation that the government had secured this loan opportunity for them, and that it was the government, same as confirmed by Information Minister Jerolinmek Piah, that would shoulder the loan obligations on the behalf of these students. But it has turned out that the students will shoulder the loan obligations themselves, not the Government, as NEKOTECH has told the candidates.
“The contradictions and misinformation in this “work-study” program being promoted by your Foreign Minister bring serious disgrace to our country. At the most basic level, work-study in the United States is funded by the US Government. If a foreign student has to complete their studies and earn a degree before being granted the opportunity to work, this scheme is no longer work-study. It is OPT-optional practical training, an opportunity provided by the US Government for foreign students who earn an academic degree to work for one to three years depending on the course of study,” Nyanplu said.
According to him, Liberians should not be made to believe that NEKOTECH has the magic to grant to them admissions into graduate schools in the United States, secure study visas for them and the opportunity to work. Liberians do not need to pay any money to a foreign organization that is deceptively promoting US Government OPT as a “work-study” program that NEKOTECH says they can help Liberians earn in the United States.
Nyanply said, “Every minute that the Foreign Minister and NEKOTECH promote this narrative is hurting our country; it is hurting Liberians, and it is extortionate. She made you sit in, endorse and launch a process through which a foreign organization is profiting or would profit from Liberians. This is callously deceptive and the fact the Foreign Minister has not disavowed this is really a disservice to our country.”
He said it’s the prerogative of the President to act against his officials but believes that the Foreign Minister’s promotion of a scam program that is charging Liberians to pay for a process that their Government claims has already secured for them, has done serious reputational damage to the country and to the government.
He said there should be no further promotion of NEKOTECH’s scam “work-study” program and Liberians should not pay one cent to NEKOTECH for so-called work-study, adding that it is extortionate and must be ended immediately.
“Despite persistent engagement with the information Minister, my immediate supervisor, who also transmitted the facts of my investigation to the Foreign and Education Ministers, it became evident that while there was acknowledgment of these facts in private, there was a collective unwillingness to publicly correct the misinformation disseminated to the Liberian public,” he said.
According, Nyanplu said in spite of all the admonition that this program should be discontinued and not be promoted, given the deceptive nomenclature and the fact that Liberians are being extorted, it is still being promoted because apparently the Foreign Minister wants to save face or probably, she has some vested interest.
“Public officials that err must own up to their errors and apologize to the country. This is what integrity is. They cannot cover up their actions and use power to suppress junior officials [as they have done to me] who come out in defense of the public. I have a very clear conscience. I remain faithful to the country and to the people. I leave the job a happy man and I will be available whenever the country needs me and is ready to tolerate dissent,” Nyanplu’s letter said.
