The University of Liberia, in partnership with Lonestar Cell MTN, has launched Lonestar Cell MTN Mobile Money Fees Payment Partnership program for easy payment of fees by students of the institution.

The service provides an online payment platform named and styled: “MTN Momo” and it provides UL students easy access to pay their fees from any location in Liberia.

According to Lone Star Cell MTN’s head of Human Resource Samuel Duo, who proxy for Lonestar Cell’s CEO, the company wants to ensure that students at the university have easy access to its many services.

As such, he said it was important to partners with the UL to ease the difficulties encountered by students during registration.

“Digital payment options are becoming the norm for many people in Liberia. Mobile Money gives customers easy access and safe ways to send money to family and friends anywhere in Liberia, and even pay for goods and services without having to carry cash,” Mr. Duo asserted.

For his part, the vice president for Finance and Fiscal Affairs at the University of Liberia P. Garswa Jackson, Sr., described Dr. Ophelia Inez Weeks as a ‘driver of change.’

According to him, Dr. Weeks ‘vision to transform the University cannot be over emphasized, adding that over the years UL students experienced difficult times during the period of registration.

“Dr. Weeks wants to see UL become a better place for learning, and that is the reason why students are now experiencing easy access to registration,” Jackson said.

He named the UL President’s quest to see ICT’s advancement and development and the inauguration of additional academic programs as some improvements made at the University of Liberia.

Mr. Jackson used the occasion to disclose that under the leadership of Dr. Weeks, plans are on the way to open a of statistics, which he said will have certificate, bachelor and possibly master programs.

Amidst cheers, VP Jackson named additional schools that have been added to the academic programs at the UL, such as Environmental Science and a school of Architecture, adding, “So Dr. Weeks is not joking, she is here to move the university forward.”

Also speaking, the CEO of MWETANA, Vivien Jones lauded his company’s partnership with Lonestar Cell MTN to provide the Mobile Money service for easy access for UL students. He said MWETANA stands ready to do all it takes to have a better system.

“And for this system, we want it to be a 100% where students can register without problems,” Mr. Jones said. “But it will take time and it will take commitment. We are here to make sure whatever instructions we are given based on the university’s policy that is how the system will work.”

Mr. Jones proudly mentioned that about 90% of the students registered this semester without problems, saying the Mobile Money fees payment program is making the UL a better place.

He said his company will do everything to have an improved system where students can plan their courses, get billed and pay through the Mobile money platform without having to appear on campus.

In remarks, the Vice President for administration, Associate Professor Weade Kobbah-Boley thanked the UL Registration Enhancement Committee for a job well done, adding, “We are happy because we are now realizing another echelon in our quest for automation at the University of Liberia.”

She said although there were lots of apprehension both in the public and the university’s family about the efficiency of the system when it was launched in 2018, a lot of things that people were skeptical about are now things that are happening at the university.

“Registration lines have been reduced to nothing; issues that we were confronted with during registration are virtually nonexistent. We can say with certainty the number of students actually enrolled at the University of Liberia without wondering how many slipped through the loopholes; students can now access their academic records from wherever they are, and it’s getting better and better,” she emphasized.

VP Boley described as a milestone the launching of the University of Liberia fees payment Mobile Money platform.  She said with the launch of the platform, long queues that once existed at the various banks will now reduce, adding that students can now stay in any part of Liberia and pay their fees.