Full Text: Shine Liberia, a Facebook blog with over 300k followers, shared a post on January 7, 2026. The blog stated that as part of the Rescue Mission's way of helping students, the NTA has announced free transportation for them. In the post, the blog particularly claimed that "NTA announced plan for free Transportation for Students." The blog claimed further, "Just come in your uniform with your ID Card and enjoy free ride on NTA buses."
The claim comes after the appearance of the entity's Managing Director, Edmund Forh, at the Ministry of Information's regular press briefing on December 7, 2026. At the briefing, he highlighted the institution's achievements under his stewardship, among other things. The post generated over 200 reactions, 92 comments, and 6 shares.
Verification: To verify this claim, we contacted the Communication Team at the NTA through its Assistant Corporate Affairs Manager for Communication Marketing Abayomi T. Santi, Jr. He refuted the claim.
"The information was misled by Shine. Yesterday, the MD made an appearance at the Ministry of Information's regular press briefing, and as part of what we call the Free Rider Policy, which covers State Security Officers wearing uniforms and identity, Persons Living with disabilities, and Medical Doctors' identity, that is what the policy covers for now.
The statement by the MD said that there are plans underway to have a discounted price for students wearing uniforms, so if the price around Monrovia is $50, it means students wearing uniforms will be able to pay $20. So, there are plans to institute that, but it has not yet come to fruition. So, it is still planning, and we appreciate them for the reportage, but that part of the report is not true," Abayomi stated in a telephone conversation with him.
What did the MD say about Free Ride in the press conference?
We reviewed the live press briefing referenced in Abayomi's response to our inquiry. This is what we found out, particularly from 19:52 to 24:11.
"So, in our operations, we consider part of our program where we have those that we move in and around Monrovia free of charge. That we have been doing, and those people are members of the disabled community, National Security Officers in uniforms, and Children under 5 who are guided on the bus by their parents or guardians.
Very shortly, we will be introducing a special fare for students in uniforms from Kindergarten to 12th grade. In Liberia, those are the students we expect to be in Uniforms. We will have a special rate for them. We will announce that soon. And we are currently working on a cashless payment system and maybe we will start with the children, where the parents will be able to buy their children cards for a month and they will just swap in the bus," the NTA MD disclosed.
We contacted Shine Liberia to inquire if they still stand by their claim. This was their response: "The statement was made during yesterday's press conference. Announced but hasn't been finalized."
Conclusion:After getting clarity from the NTA Communication team and a review of the live press briefing from yesterday, which was referenced by Shine Liberia as their source, the claim is Misleading. Though NTA announced a free ride policy, it doesn't include students wearing uniforms. What is underway for high school students in uniforms is a reduction in price, not a total free ride as claimed by Shine Liberia.
