Liberia: SUP Backs Tweah’s Not-Guilty Verdict, Warns UL Against Cancelling Free Tuition Policy - FrontPageAfrica

MONROVIA — The state-run University of Liberia student-based political party, the Students Unification Party (SUP), has condemned what it described as a political witch-hunt against former Finance Minister Samuel D. Tweah.

By J.H. Webster Clayeh

Speaking during a press conference on the main campus of the University of Liberia on Capitol Hill on Monday, SUP Chairman Odicious Mulbah accused the Boakai administration of using state institutions to target political opponents and undermine the rule of law.

The student group said the prosecution and investigations involving former Minister Tweah were politically motivated and not part of a genuine fight against corruption.

SUP also defended the not-guilty verdict in Tweah’s case before Criminal Court “C,” warning that any attempt to challenge the jury’s decision would threaten Liberia’s judicial independence and democracy.

“Vanguard Student Unification Party vehemently condemns the daylight political witch-hunt and deliberate attacks being orchestrated by the state against the rule of law and our broader democracy,” Chairman Mulbah said.

Mulbah further stated: “We view the ongoing state-sponsored prosecution of former Finance Minister Samuel D. Tweah not as a genuine, well-meaning national effort to end impunity, but as a calculated, vindictive campaign designed to eliminate perceived political opponents under the guise of accountability.”

According to SUP, attempts by high-ranking government officials to overturn the jury’s verdict at Criminal Court “C” would amount to a direct assault on the presumption of innocence.

The group accused the Boakai-Koung administration of selective justice, claiming the government was focusing on Tweah while ignoring corruption allegations involving individuals connected to the ruling establishment.

SUP also criticized the government for opening another investigation into an alleged US$21 million case linked to the former CDC administration shortly after Tweah’s acquittal, describing the move as continued political targeting.

The student organization emphasized that its position was not about defending Tweah personally, but about protecting the rule of law, judicial independence, and democracy.

SUP additionally criticized civil society organizations and religious leaders for what it called their silence on political interference and selective justice.

The Students Unification Party also warned the University of Liberia administration against cancelling the free tuition policy that has been in effect since 2019.

The policy was introduced during the administration of former President George Weah. SUP Chairman Mulbah described any attempt to abolish the policy as economically unsound and morally indefensible.

“The revolutionary Vanguard Student Unification Party vehemently warns the roguish, scandalous and dystopian Unity Party government and the Maparyan-led administration of the University of Liberia against increasing tuition or terminating the Free Tuition policy at the state-run university,” Mulbah said. 

He added: “Placing a permanent financial burden on 22,000 university students upon a temporary price fluctuation is nothing but gibberish.”

According to him, there is no justification for increasing tuition because of what he described as a short-lived global crisis.

“The Free Tuition policy was instituted because of structural poverty, unemployment and economic exclusion, which this current government has worsened. Therefore, it is unconscionable to abort the policy when the standard of living has not improved,” he said.

The SUP Chairman further warned that any attempt to eliminate the Free Tuition policy would be met with what he described as revolutionary resistance.

“We have endured many acts of oppression and repression, but this one is the last straw that will break the camel’s back. Boakai and Maparyan have arrived at their Waterloo. We dare the University of Liberia’s administration to cancel the Free Tuition policy. We will mobilize the students and make this country ungovernable for Boakai and his henchmen of rogues, rapists and charlatans,” SUP Chairman said.

Minutes after the SUP press conference, University of Liberia President Dr. Layli Maparyan responded in a public statement, clarifying the administration’s position on tuition.

She posted: “As I said last week and this week on my radio show, we are NOT raising student fees now or next semester, but we need to think together and dialogue about how to achieve the University we want given the rising costs of the things we want. There are many possible strategies, so let’s have that conversation and don’t run from it!”