Monrovia — Youth and Sports Minister-designate Cornelia Kruah has warned that a persistent cycle of dysfunction and dependency continues to threaten the stability of young Liberians, contributing to the growing social and economic challenges many are striving to escape.
By Obediah Johnson
According to Kruah, the pathway meant to guide young people from learning to skills, skills to opportunity, opportunity to livelihood, and livelihood to agency is either broken or nonexistent, leaving many without clear direction or support.
She stressed that rebuilding these pathways is critical to ensuring young Liberians become productive and self-reliant citizens.
Madam Kruah, who currently serves as Deputy Minister for Administration at the Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs, made the remarks Monday, February 9, when she appeared before the Senate Committee on Youth and Sports for her confirmation hearing at the Capitol Building in Monrovia.
Legacy of the Past
She observed that the Ministry of Youth and Sports was established through a military decree at a time when state control took precedence over opportunity, a legacy she said has contributed to cycles of war, instability, patronage, and violence.
According to her, those cycles have left lasting consequences, including unemployment, trauma, despair, and a sense of inadequacy among many young people.
“What we must now do is deliberately shift to the future by building clear pathways that give young people access to skills, opportunities, livelihoods, and ultimately agency—so they can become the productive and functional citizens our nation needs,” Kruah said.
She emphasized that the current moment demands a Ministry focused on preventing young people from inheriting the failures of the past or repeating the mistakes of the present.
Youth Development as a National Imperative
Kruah stressed that the Ministry must design predictable transitions for young people between the ages of 15 and 35, placing youth development at the center of national policy.
“Born out of a military decree during a troubled period in our history, the Ministry’s framework reflected state protection. Today, the task is different. Youth development must become the Ministry’s central purpose,” she said.
With nearly 75 percent of Liberia’s population under 35 and more than 40 percent below 18, Kruah described youth development as not just a social issue, but an economic imperative, a governance necessity, and a national survival priority.
She called for ambitious planning, budgets that reflect Liberia’s demographic reality, and the courage to rethink how government supports young people.
From Programs to Systems
Kruah urged the government to move from isolated programs to what she termed “architecture”, proposing a youth outcome compact that would bring together the Ministries of Youth and Sports, Education, Labor, Commerce, Finance, Health, Agriculture, the Liberia Tourism Authority, and the Civil Service Agency.
“Youth outcomes do not live in one ministry. They live across the government,” she said.
She emphasized the need for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programs to deliver measurable results, noting a 50 percent completion rate that requires urgent examination.
“We must understand why young people enter TVET programs and do not complete them. We must ensure that rural youth, disabled youth, and vulnerable youth are not left behind,” Kruah added.
Vision for Youth and Sports
The minister-designate envisioned a Liberia where every young person can see and access a clear pathway from learning to livelihood, aspiration to opportunity, and potential to productive citizenship.
She disclosed plans to review the Ministry’s mandate, including a proposal to separate Youth and Sports—creating a Ministry of Youth, Innovation and Technology, while positioning sports as an independent driver of national development.
She said her administration would build ecosystems that link youth development to skills, services, enterprise, and opportunity through strong coordination with national stakeholders.
Kruah also pledged to introduce innovative financing mechanisms for youth and sports development and to transform the Ministry into a hub for research, design, and evidence-based youth policy.
Addressing Criticism
Responding to criticism surrounding her nomination, Kruah urged lawmakers to judge her by her performance rather than her background.
“Do not judge me by my age or appearance. Judge me by my ideas, my decisions, and my results,” she said.
Addressing claims that her family background influenced her nomination, Kruah said while she is proud of the support she received, her presence before the Senate is the result of hard work, discipline, and competence.
Sports and Civic Engagement
She stressed that sports must go beyond events to become a structured system for talent development, national unity, and economic opportunity.
Kruah proposed transforming the National County Sports Meet into an instrument for reconciliation, pride, and organized talent discovery, while also calling for the revival of youth civic engagement through a modern National Service Program.
“We will deliver on this mandate not because policy documents demand it, but because common sense requires that we empower young people,” she said.
She urged Liberia to view youth not as a future concern, but as a present priority, stressing the need to design systems that allow young people’s potential to flourish.
Commitment to Service
Kruah described her nomination as “the honor of a lifetime,” acknowledging the weight of expectations placed on her and the trust reposed in her by President Joseph Nyuma Boakai.
She pledged to work tirelessly in the interest of young people and to ensure the Ministry fulfills its mandate of coordinating youth and sports development nationwide.
She also committed to building on the National Youth Policy and Strategic Plan developed under her predecessor, Jeror Cole Bangalu, and paid tribute to former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for her quiet counsel and mentorship.
Kruah concluded by calling on Senators to confirm her nomination, saying it would help elevate the national conversation on youth development in Liberia.
