Bong County – Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor in a video published by FrontPage Africa on July 10, 2023 claimed that Unity Party Standard bearer Joseph Boakai and his Vice Standard bearer Jeremiah Koung have not offered scholarship in Bong County. We have fact checked this claim.
Fact Check By: D. Olivia Banwon | LVL Fact-Checker
The statement was in reaction to an assertion made by Nimba County Senator Jeremiah Koung that the current Vice President has a budget of US$4 million and cannot provide a bus for government-run Phebe Hospital in Bing County.
The Claim
Said VP Taylor: “Those who say they want be President and Vice President, you can’t show one scholarship you na gave (have given) in Bong County”.
What We Found
Local Voices Liberia Fact-checking desk authenticated this claim and found it to be incorrect. To fact-check the claim made by the Vice President, Local Voices Liberia Fact-Checking desk reviewed a publication by New dawn newspaper dated back in September 16, 2015.
The article reported about a scholarship provided by the office of the former Vice President to the then vice principal for instruction, Mr. Silas Juaquellie for of the Dolokelen Gboveh High School in Gbarnga, Bong County.
According to the publication, Mr. Juaquellie, who was a not a partisan of the Unity Party, traveled to the People Republic of China to pursue master’s degree in education administration and leadership.
To further fact check VP Howard-Taylor statement, we contacted Mr. Juaquellie who confirmed that he benefitted from a scholarship provided by the office of the former Vice President.
He said it was an opportunity he merited after a vetting process done by the East China Normal University in Shanghai City, China.
“I was not the only person, we were three from the county that were awarded the scholarship, the two were ladies and we went through the application, interview and vetting process.”
However, the Vice President’s assertion against Senator Jeremiah Koung remains unproven as there is no documentation or reliable sources to confirm or refute the Vice President’s statement.
Conclusion
Based on these evidence and research conducted by our fact-checking desk, we conclude that the claim made by the Vice President is incorrect. Former VP Boakai office is on record for providing scholarship opportunity for a citizen of Bong County.
Local Voices Liberia, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, has implemented the iVerify Liberia system with the objective of strengthening capacities to address threats to information integrity, especially in view of the upcoming 2023 elections, to ensure all Liberian citizens have access to credible, reliable and verified information, everywhere and at all times.
This initiative is funded by Irish Aid, Embassy of Sweden in Monrovia, European Union Delegation in Liberia and the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund. The donors have no say in the production of this fact check report.
