Youth Minister Says Employed Workers Took Cadet Stipends, Promises to Name Them And Recover The Money

Published: September 2, 2026

MONROVIA — Civil servants and private-sector employees enrolled in the government’s National Cadet Program and drew the US$150 monthly stipend reserved for students and recent graduates, Youth and Sports Minister Cornelia W. Kruah said, promising that everyone found to have done so will be publicly identified and required to repay every cent.

Kruah made the accusation in a post on her official Facebook page on Tuesday. She did not say how many people are involved, name any of them, or say how much money has gone to ineligible participants, but said the ministry has a monitoring team able to identify them.

“We speak of corruption from Public Servants daily but corruption is really eating every fabric of our society,” she wrote. “It would surprise you to know that there are civil servants who applied as cadets and there are others working in the private sector who applied as cadets.”

“Here’s the promise: we will find you, we will name and shame you, and you will refund every cent you have received. The last package will be a surprise,” she wrote.

Kruah said young Liberians who qualify for the program are being denied places because of the greed of people already drawing salaries in government or the private sector. She said the conduct is the same corruption routinely attributed to public officials, and that it has spread through Liberian society.

The accusation points back at Kruah’s own ministry. When the Ministry of Youth and Sports announced the program in late March, it said applications would undergo document vetting and verification to confirm authenticity and completeness, and that falsification would result in immediate disqualification. Applicants had to submit proof of student or graduation status, a national identification card or birth certificate, personal details showing county of origin and a passport-sized photograph. Eligibility was limited to final-year students and people who had graduated within the previous two years, with preference for applicants living in their home counties.

The 2026 program was to place more than 1,000 young Liberians in public and private institutions, including companies and concessions, as National Service Associates from May 11 through Oct. 31 at US$150 a month. It is funded through the 2026 national budget under the Private Sector Investment Program and the National Youth Empowerment Program.

The Liberian Investigator contacted Kruah by WhatsApp seeking the number of suspected ineligible beneficiaries, how they cleared vetting, what administrative or legal action the ministry intends, and whether places taken from them will go to qualified applicants who were turned down. She had not responded by publication.