In Summary:
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Nimba County Senator Samuel Kogar has claimed that the Government of Liberia provides an annual subsidy of US$50,000 to the PYJ University in Nimba County.
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We have verified this claim by reviewing official budget documents
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We found that the university received an allotment of $150,000 for FY2024, and only in FY2025 was the allocation reduced to $50,000.
During his appearance on Spoon Talk on October 2, Nimba County Senator Samuel Kogar claimed that the government of Liberia has been providing US$50,000 to the PYJ University in Nimba County.
Senator Kogar made this claim while discussing the reported sale of the institution by the family of the late Senator Prince Y. Johnson, arguing that the university’s sustainability largely depended on the government’s support through subsidy, which he said was insufficient to maintain operations, something that prompted the family’s decision to sell the institution.
The Claim
Said Senator Kogar: “The survivability of the school was squarely lies on subsidies from the government, and the subsidy is not forthcoming, even the subsidy cannot maintain the school for one academic year or semester so it was tough. If you saw Senator Johnson writing his colleagues or his old friends in the States to come and help him, then you should know that this is the reality. The government on an annual basis was providing 50,000, which happens to other areas.”
Rating Justification
The PYJ University, named in honor of its founder – the late Nimba County Senator, is located in Ganta City, Nimba County. The institution was established in 2014, dedicated in March 2022, and commenced academic activities in September of that year.
In December 2022, the Liberian Senate passed an Act to turn the university into a public higher learning institution. These media reports can be found here and here. However, the Bill was never signed into law by the President.
To verify Senator Kogar’s assertion, we reviewed Liberia’s national budget documents for Fiscal Years 022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. This was because enrolment at the university began in September 2022 after the school was dedicated.
Our review found no allocation for the PYJ University in the 2022 and 2023 national budgets. The institution first appeared in the FY2024 National Budget.
In the 2024 National Budget, the PYJ University with budget code (254214) was allotted US$150,000, of which US$99,990 was reported as expended, according to the 2024 budget performance details highlighted in the 2025 National Budget.
According to the 2025 budget book, the university expended US$99,990.00.
Also for Fiscal Year 2025, the University received a subsidy of US$50,000 from the Government of Liberia as highlighted on the screenshot below.
We are unable to determine whether or not this amount has been disbursed to the university because the budget year has not ended and the consolidated financial statement has not yet been published by the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning.
Conclusion
Based on a review of the university’s allocation records, we conclude that Senator Kogar’s claim that the Government of Liberia has been providing an annual US$50,000 subsidy to PYJ University is incorrect.
The university first received funding in 2024 with a total allocation of US$150,000, of which the institution spent US$99, 990. The record shows that only in the 2025 the university was allotted US$50,000.
