In Summary:
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Grand Bassa County District #3 Representative Matthew Joe claims he crafted the Bill that granted Grand Bassa Community College university status and that the institution was the first community college in Liberia to be elevated to a University
- He also claimed that there has been no significant increment in the University’s budget in the last three years compared to others
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We have verified these claims by reviewing publicly available data and found two to be correct and the other incorrect.
On November 13, Grand Bassa County District #3 Representative Matthew Joe made some claims about the County’s University.
Representative Joe made the claims while addressing the press after submitting a communication to the House’s plenary, requesting an increase in the University’s budgetary allocations.
The Grand Bassa University College, formerly Grand Bassa Community College, was established in 2008 and elevated to a University status following the passage of an Act of Legislature in 2021.
The Claim
Said Representative Joe: “We Liberians, we have been craving for improvement in the sector of education in our country and every sector. Grand Bassa being no exception to that with the presentation of the 2026 Draft National Budget, taking critical look of the budget, it drew the attention of every Bassa citizen to see that Grand Bassa University budget almost remain the same for close to two to three years now. Not forgetting Grand Bassa University being one of the first Universities, in fact the first University that was enacted in 2021, followed by other Universities, followed by Lofa, Nimba, Grand Bassa was the first to be enacted in 2021, and that bill was crafted by me, and it was passed by both Houses and it was signed by the President before other counties follow.
And seeing the budget remaining the same, it drew the attention of every Bassa citizen… other universities that came into being after the creation of Grand Bassa University, and those universities, in fact, had their budget increased by 30 to 40 percent. … Like for Lofa University, their budget was increased by 40 percent, which took them to two million dollars. Likewise, the same as Nimba County budget was also increased by 30 percent, which took them to 1.8 million dollars, followed by Bong County.
Grand Bassa, being the first and one of the important, I mean, the biggest university within our republic, still dancing around 700,000 to 800,000, we thought it was to bring this to the knowledge of our colleagues, so that they will see reason and be able to look at that, so that these county universities will be treated equally.”
Claim #1
“Has Grand Bassa University’s budget remained the same for close to three years now?”
Rating Justification
To verify the claim, we reviewed the national budgets from 2023 to 2026 published by the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning. According to the documents, Grand Bassa University College received an allotment of $1,003,530 in the 2023 budget, $936,802 in 2024, $871,802 in 2025, and $871,802 in the 2026 Draft Budget.
As seen in these screenshots below, the GBU budgets have declined since 2023.
Conclusion
Based on the review of the budgets for 2023, 2024, 2025, and the 2026 draft fiscal plan, Representative Matthew Joe’s claim that Grand Bassa University College’s budget has remained almost the same for two to three years is mostly correct.
Since 2023, the University’s budget has remained unchanged, falling from US$1 million to over US$800,000.
Claim #2
“Grand Bassa University is the first University that was enacted in 2021, followed by other Universities, like Lofa and Nimba. Grand Bassa was the first to be enacted in 2021.”
Rating Justification
To verify this claim, we reviewed publicly available records.
On September 2, 2021, the House of Representatives posted on its official Facebook page detailing the body’s 60th Day Sitting agenda.
Among the items listed were several communications from the Liberian Senate, including its concurrence with the House of Representatives to repeal the Acts that created both the Grand Bassa and Nimba Community Colleges and re-establish them as universities.
That same day, FrontPage Africa published a report confirming that the Senate had concurred with the House of Representatives to elevate both community colleges (Grand Bassa and Nimba) to university status.
Additionally, an Inquirer Newspaper article dated June 12, 2020, quoted Edwin Kruah, then Vice President for Administration at Nimba Community College, announcing that Nimba Community College had already been granted full university status by the National Commission on Higher Education prior to the legislative action.
Conclusion
Based on the findings, we conclude that Representative Matthew Joe’s claim that Grand Bassa University was the first community college to achieve such status is incorrect.
Both Grand Bassa and Nimba Universities were acted upon simultaneously by the Legislature in 2021, and Nimba Community College had already received NCHE approval for university status as early as 2020 – that was before the Act of the Legislature.
Claim # 3
Was the Bill to upgrade Grand Bassa College into a University crafted by Rep. Matthew Joe?
Rating Justification
To verify this claim, we reviewed multiple news publications reporting on the legislative process that elevated the Grand Bassa Community College to a university.
A FrontPage Africa publication dated July 8, 2021, reported that Representative Matthew Joe sponsored a bill titled “An Act to Repeal the 2008 Act Creating the Grand Bassa County Community College and to Establish in lieu thereof a Grand Bassa University College (GBUC) and Grant it a Charter”.
On November 20, 2021, Ableejay TV in a Facebook post, highlighted Representative Joe’s announcement that the Act establishing the university had been printed into handbills, further referencing him as the sponsor of the legislation.
Also, on July 7, 2021, Global News Network reported that the bill voted on by the House of Representatives was drafted and sponsored by Representative Joe.
Conclusion
Based on the research conducted, we conclude that Representative Matthew Joe’s claim that he crafted the bill that elevated the Grand Bassa Community College to a University status is correct.
