On September 4, the administration of the University of Liberia (UL) appeared before the Senate Committee on Education to discuss pressing issues affecting the institution.
During the hearing, UL President Dr. Layli Maparyan raised concerns about a funding shortfall that threatens the reopening of the university and hampers efforts to address persistent faculty and infrastructure challenges. She disclosed that the university requires US$3.9 million for comprehensive renovations across its four campuses, along with an additional US$300,000 for urgent bathroom repairs.
In response, River Gee County Senator Francis Dopoe claimed that the Government of Liberia allocated US$1 million to the university in the 2024 National Budget for renovation and rehabilitation. He further claimed that the university had already expanded the amount, citing the General Auditing Commission's audit of the Consolidated Financial Statement for FY2024.
Claim #1
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In his words, Senator Francis Dopoe claimed: "One million dollars was given to the University in 2024 for renovation and rehabilitation. I don't know what it was used for. The GAC audit report of the consolidated financial statement indicates that the entire budget of 2024 was spent.
Rating Justification
To verify this claim, our team reviewed the 2024 National Budget, which shows an allotment of US$1 million to the University of Liberia under budget code 0217 - Renovation and Rehabilitation.
However, we reviewed page 64 of the Government of Liberia's 2024 Consolidated Financial Statement to verify whether the University of Liberia expended the amount on renovation and rehabilitation. The review revealed that the University, under the Ministry of Education, spent US$1 million (2%) on Renovation and Rehabilitation.
Review of consolidated financial statement shows the UL spent one million dollars on renovation and rehabilitation
We further checked the 2025 National Budget and found that budget line 0217 - Renovation and Rehabilitation recorded an outturn of US$1 million for FY2024, confirming that the amount was indeed spent. In budgeting terms, an outturn reflects the actual spending and revenue collection for a given fiscal year.
Based on these findings, we conclude that Senator Dopoe's claims that the University of Liberia received a US$1 million allotment in 2024 for renovation and rehabilitation is correct.
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Claim #2
Senator Dillon, also responding to the university's authorities, claimed that "The budget of the Education sector in this budget is US$119 million."
Rating Justification
To verify whether the government of Liberia allocated US$119 million to the education sector in the 2025 National Budget, we reviewed the 2025 fiscal envelope, which shows that the Government of Liberia actually allocated US$119.7 million to the Education Sector.
FY2025 budget showing $119.7 million allocation to education sector
The Education Sector allocation covers the Ministry of Education, the University of Liberia, as well as other public and private universities and related institutions.
Conclusion
Based on this fact, we therefore conclude that the claim made by Senator Darius Dillon that the Education Sector was allotted US$119 million in the 2025 National Budget is correct.
The government of Liberia actually allocated US$119.7 million in the FY2025 budget to the education sector.
Editor's Note:
This fact check was produced by Local Voices Liberia with support from the European Union through the Liberia Media Empowerment Program (LMEP). The funder had no say in the editorial decision leading to the production of this fact-check report. Read the original fact-check report here.
