By Liberian activist Martin K. N. Kollie writes…

Education is our first and last hope. We must prioritize and incentivize it above every sector. We cannot continue to let our country down. We cannot continue to gamble our future. A man like Amb Latim Da-thong is unfit to drive our education sector in any manner or form. It is time to be bold and honest about where our country goes from here. I know that some of you do hate me for this. But I have no choice. It is about a New Liberia.

Like I said this morning, no Minister at the Ministry of Education has obtained or earned a Doctor of Philosophy or a “Philosophiae Doctor” (Ph.D. degree) in any academic discipline, least to mention in the area of Education. Does this sound somehow to you especially when they are supervising or presiding over Presidents of various Universities/Colleges who have earned Doctorate Degrees?

Get my point. I am not saying that Ph.D. is a requirement for such post, but it is an inescapable necessity for a country like Liberia. Considering our frail context and poor system of education, entrusting our education sector with a career educator (e.g. Ph.D. in education) is a “sine qua non” or an added value.

Sadly, the highest academic qualification we can get from those driving our education sector is master’s degree. In fact, none of them even has a master’s degree in education. Does this bother you? For me, I like the facts. So, here are my proofs. Let me just deal with the four (4) most senior ministerial positions:

1) Minister Ansu D. Sonii – Minster Proper

a) BA in Accounting – University of Liberia – 1975

b) M.Sc. in Accounting – Adelphi University, USA – 1980

2) Deputy Minister Latim Da-thong – Administration

a) MBA (Unknown University – FAKE)

b) A+, Network+, CISCO, MCSA (Unknown validations for these certificates)

3) Deputy Minister Alton V. Kesselly – Planning

a) B.Sc. in Physics – University of Abuja, Nigeria

b) M.Sc. in Applied Mathematics – University of Cape Town, SA

c) M.Sc. in Mathematical Science – Stellenbosch University, SA

d) M.Sc. in Astrophysics – University of Science and Technology, China

4) Deputy Minister Alexander Duopu – Instruction

a) BA in Accounting – University of Liberia – 1988

b) M.Sc. in Accounting – Strayer University – 2007

c) MBA in Finance – Strayer University, USA – 2009

Let me link you to all of these facts. Here are their profiles:

1) http://moe-liberia.org/das-bio/

2) http://moe-liberia.org/department-of-administration/

3) http://moe-liberia.org/department-of-planning/

4) http://moe-liberia.org/department-of-instruction/.

Now, do you believe what I said this morning? I do not just talk. I can thoroughly investigate and dig out FACTS. Let me repeat, none of them is a specialized educator and/or an educator by profession. What I see here are mostly accountants by profession. How can accountants drive “result-oriented change” in our education sector? Imagine for a moment, no one in this current management team even has a BA in Education.

Here are my legit concerns:

1) Deputy Minister Latim Da-thong has been lying about his credentials. He even lied about lecturing at Shaw University and Wake County School System in North Carolina. This is FAKE. I am going to expose him in a few days. As owner of Starz College, he has been exploiting poor Liberian students and parents. He recently siphoned US$500 from each prospective graduate (about 156 graduates) of Starz College in exchange for “Online Graduation”. Latim has up to this coming Monday to refund those students or else, the World will get to know about this. As a columnist or a contributing writer to more than 10 international journals, I will begin publishing stories/highlights about how fraudulent Starz College is.

2) Deputy Minister Alton V. Kesselly has to give us full details about all of those academic degrees or credentials he “earned”. He has to furnish us with physical addresses, dates, and more info. So far, his profile on MOE’s website appears vague. No leadership and management component/experience? I am also thoroughly investigating his credentials.

3) I have heard some of you calling Deputy Minister Alexander Duopu these titles: “Dr. Duopu” and “Professor Duopu”. You have to STOP now. It is wrong and you’ve been proceeding in error. He has not earned a doctorate degree yet. I am not too sure that he has even begun this journey. He is not a “Professor”. So, just STOP and cut it off.

4) I do highly respect Minister Ansu Soniii. He has spent a good number of years lecturing Accountancy at UL and elsewhere. Like Deputy Minister Duopu, Min. Sonii is an experienced teacher. Hence, he got this title “Professor” as a result of his long years of teaching and practice. But does Minister Sonii have a doctorate degree or a Ph.D.? The answer is NO.

Don’t get missed up. Since I did my post this morning, some of you have reached out to me saying, “We thought Prof. Sonii has a Ph.D.”. No, Prof. Sonii does not. What he has is an “honorary doctorate degree” from Starz College in 2018. Again, read his profile here: http://moe-liberia.org/das-bio/.

This honorary doctoral degree should not be used on Prof. Sonii’s official documents. It is WRONG to use it in academia. Several studies have proved this. The Prof. himself knows this very well. Whoever uploaded his profile needs to remove this title (“Dr”). Why? Because Starz College is not even a chartered University. Hence, Starz College has no authority to confer a Doctor of Humane Letters (Honoris Causa) on anyone.

Starz should not even be a College, least to mention a University. The institution lacks what it takes to obtain a University’s status. We have to STOP playing politics with education. For instance, the faculty profile at Starz is very low. Not even 2 persons there can boast of a legit doctorate degree. How can such institution confer a doctor of humane letters when it does not even offer a master’s degree or a Ph.D.?

We have to STOP joking with EDUCATION in Liberia. This is a JOKE. We have to stop playing politics with our future. We have to STOP this now. We are willfully destroying our own future. This has to come to an end now. But I will leave this with the public to judge.

I just wanted to let you know about the four key players that have been driving our country’s education sector under President George M. Weah since January 2018. This is Edition 91 of our daily Writing Series dubbed and styled “Voices from Exile – VEx”.

Wishing you a cheerful weekend. Stay safe. COVID-19 is REAL – Martin K. N. Kollie writes from exile.