Claim: “Commerce and Trade Inspector General Dorr Cooper ID#26371 belongs to a dead person.”
Source: Martin K.N. Kollie
Verdict: Unproven, we found no record of the claim.
Full Text: At the 104th graduation ceremony of the University of Liberia (UL), there were images of Dorr Cooper, a Commerce and trade inspector seen in a gown at one of the university’s ceremonies.
Cooper attended the ceremony for the sole purpose of his degree being conferred, something that did not happen as reported by many online platforms and social media users because his name was not in the officials’ program sheet or booklet.
The circulated image of Cooper came to a conversation when a social media activist, Martin K. N. Kollie posted on September 19, 2024, posted that Cooper did not attend classes at the University of Liberia and that the ID # 26371 the inspector general is using belongs to a dead person.
As of the time of the check, the post attracted 1.2k reactions, 1.2k comments, and 80 shares.
The University of Liberia was founded in 1862 as Liberia College and became a full university in 1951. It is a public institution funded mainly by the Government of Liberia.
On Wednesday, February 7, 2024, President Boakai nominated Cooper as Inspector General at the Ministry of Commerce.
Before his new role, Cooper served as the City Mayor of Ganta City, Assistant Superintendent of Development, and Superintendent Proper in Nimba County. He also participated in the October 2020 senatorial election in Nimba.
Verification: We contacted Kollie to authenticate his claim. He fell short of saying who the dead persons who owed ID#26371 were. Still, he went on further to make additional claims about the University of Liberia not giving Cooper admission but rather, Cooper gaining admission overnight with a “readmission” for the second semester (2022/2023).
Kollie said, “Claiming that he was under probation with his name misspelled and ID#26371 of the 90s. The readmission letter was issued in 2024.
He added, “No record of admissions into the University of Liberia and entrance examination record but seems with a final Clarence bearing the ID#26371.”
Kollie raised an issue over the originality of the clearance. “All members of the 104th Graduating Class received their final academic clearance(s) through the ePortal System with ePortal written, but Cooper’s clearance appears cropped from the top and does not have any “ePortal” on it. Is Cooper’s clearance fake?”
To further establish the claim by Kollie that the identification number in question belongs to a dead person, we contacted Cllr. Norris Tweah, Vice President for Public Relations, University of Liberia said the matter is currently being investigated by the university.
However, he clarified that Cooper was not a member of the 104th graduating class, but did not confirm or deny whether Cooper is a student at the institution or was given admission that qualified a person to be a student of the institution.
“Primarily, our investigation shows that he was not a member of the 104th graduating class, as his name does not appear in the official souvenir program of the Business College,” Tweah stated.
An Assistant Professor at UL, Anthony S. Tengbeh said Cooper has no record of sitting and passing the UL entrance exam.
He emphasized that Cooper ID#26371 is from the 90s which makes it even concerning. “If he dropped out for some time and returned, he should provide the admission letter. Cooper is not a legal student of the University. Someone in the IT department or the Business College must have aided the process for him.”
Tengbeh mentioned that individuals with Cooper’s ID number must be someone who is currently in the graduate program and obtaining a second or third undergraduate degree or graduate degree.
Dr. Edwin B.R. Gbargaye, Acting Dean of the A. Romeo Horton College of Business and Public Administration said Cooper was not part of the 104th Commencement Convocation known as the 104th Kwa’ Lo Lie Class, a name from the Mahn language that means “Let us move ahead.”
“According to our records, Cooper has some deficiencies in some courses which needed him to redo for a completion of 137 credit hours before graduating,” Gbargaye said.
A document from the office of Enrollment Service at UL issued a re-admission for Cooper as a probationary or regular student for the second semester of 2022/2023, with a condition attached to carry 1.
We also contacted a man identified as Abel Morris through Facebook on Thursday, September 27, who claimed that the ID number was for his deceased uncle; he did not respond.
Conclusion: Excluding the University of Liberia’s complete investigation finding, our research found no evidence that proves that ID#: 26371 belongs to a dead person other than Cooper.
