Monrovia — Gbarpolu County Senator-elect Amara Konneh's announcement of an "all Unity Party" scholarship scheme has elicited mixed reactions from Liberians, especially on social media platforms such as Facebook.
On November 27, 2023, Konneh posted on his Facebook page that there is an opportunity for 20 graduate studies scholarships for members of the Unity Party's situation room to study abroad. However, the name of the scholarship donor was not mentioned.
Gbarpolu County Senator-elect Konneh wrote on his Facebook page: "Twenty graduate studies scholarships for young professional members of the UP-Alliance's Situation Room only to study abroad are offered by a donor. Quality education matters in preparing principled leaders and building a credible state."
Shortly after, many Liberians reacted to Konneh's post, expressing disappointment that the scholarship is limited to individuals who were in the situation room of the Unity Party during the election, as the demand for capacity-building remains high in the country.
Matthew Nyanplu, a former media personality, in his response to Gbarpolu County Senator-elect stressed that since the scholarships are only meant for Unity Party partisans who are in the party's situation room, such information should rather remain on the situation chartroom and not come out to the public.
Nyanplu said: "If the scholarship support info shared by Big Brother Amara Konneh is for UP war room champions, then the info is better shared through channels only accessible to them. Study abroad and the support required for that remain a contentious issue."
Another Liberian, Clarence Pearson, writes: "What is worrying about this post is that scholarships should be open to all Liberians based on merit, not based on partisan politics. JNB, you sleep, you leave, rescue without excuse."
Junda Morris responded to the Gbarpolu County Senator-elect: "Why not for any qualified Liberian. This is not a good start."
Borbor Koryon writes: "This opportunity is clearly for only those who staunchly supported the Unity Party and worked in the Situation Room as well. It's not a good start. If this isn't Amara's personal money, such an opportunity should be provided to all qualified Liberians, regardless of their political affiliation."
Another Liberian, Varfee M. Kanneh, expressed delight but added that there are more individuals who voted for Joseph Boakai that are Unity Party members. Kanneh says these persons are desperately in need of an opportunity to foster their education.
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Kanneh said: "Very impressive! But you need to get out of the situation room another time, there're more talented youngsters that supported the rescue mission and are not UP members. They too need these opportunities."
Also, the owner of the Spoon Network, Stanton Witherspoon, on the famous talk-show frowned upon the Gbarpolu County Senator-elect for rushing to post about the scholarship on his Facebook page.
According to Witherspoon, the Gbarpolu County Senator-elect did that to claim the glory, something he sees as being wrong on the part of Mr. Konneh.
"I will say this to everyone that is watching. I think Amara went ahead of himself again," Witherspoon said. He added: "Today Amara comes up and says the alliance group has been awarded 20 scholarships, but here is the story. The man that did all these things, they called him Dr. Nuta who built a war room for the Unity Party, has a relationship with the Chinese Ambassador, and in the conversation, because of his good work, the Chinese people promised scholarships. The conversation was held with Dr. Nuta, not Amara."
"When these things are ready to happen, don't rush; stay back and let someone get the glory, let somebody else better present it. So, the whole scholarship thing you guys are talking about is because of the Chinese people. It was through the blessing of Dr. Nuta, through the party, not alliance group, everybody, not only those in the situation room. Mr. Senator-elect, you got to put a checkpoint to some of your posts, give glory to where it belongs," Witherspoon added.
