MONROVIA – Bomi County Senator Edwin Melvin Snowe has sharply criticized the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT), accusing Information Minister Jerolinmek Matthew Piah and his deputies, particularly Daniel O. Sando, of turning the Ministry into a platform for insults and personal attacks rather than a professional arm of government communication.
Speaking during a Senate session on Thursday, September 16, 2025, Senator Snowe expressed deep frustration over what he described as the growing culture of disrespect and verbal attacks emanating from the Ministry. He recalled that months earlier, the Ministry of Information had publicly accused him of plotting to overthrow the government, an allegation he strongly denied.
“When you begin to use the Ministry of Information platform, and you are insulting people, national leaders, I think they are diluting the function and standard of the Ministry, and it’s turning more to gangsterism. I think they need to work on it. Today it might be people in the opposition, but tomorrow, they will come home. Because of that, the Ministry has made insulting simple and normal in the country,” Senator Snowe stated.
He criticized both Minister Piah and Deputy Minister Sando for using a government platform, funded by taxpayers, to launch verbal attacks on critical voices and political figures, warning that their conduct is setting a dangerous precedent for public discourse. According to the Senator, this behavior goes far beyond healthy political debate and undermines the dignity of national leadership.
Snowe pointed to several prominent individuals who have been subjected to attacks from the Ministry’s platform. He cited the case of Senator Amara Konneh, who was verbally assaulted by the Ministry after he raised a legislative concern at a time when his sister was critically ill with cancer in the United States. He also mentioned Senator Cryton Duncan, former President George M. Weah, former Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor, Pastor Kortu Brown, and Alternative National Congress political leader Alexander B. Cummings as recent targets of MICAT’s public ridicule.
“When Weah spoke, the Ministry said he had mosquito brains. Cummings, they talk about his height, calling him a dwarf, using his height to determine his comment. The same to Bishop Brown, who was called a politician and insulted. What they are doing is not the function of the Ministry of Information. You can’t use government platform and attack critical voices. We are sitting down and looking at it, thinking it’s funny, but it’s serious,” Senator Snowe warned.
The Bomi lawmaker emphasized that such behavior from a key government communication arm risks normalizing public insults and political intimidation. He reminded his colleagues that while today’s targets may be members of the opposition, future administrations could use the same tactics against anyone.
Snowe described how the Ministry attacked Senator Duncan after he raised critical national issues, branded Alexander Cummings based on his physical appearance, and mocked former President Weah. He also highlighted how respected cleric Bishop Kortu Brown, known for his principled criticism of successive governments from Samuel Doe to George Weah, was told to “go and be a politician” after speaking against the current administration.
“Former Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor spoke at an opposition gathering, and she was attacked by that ministry. The point I’m making, Mr. Presiding, is that this is not the responsibility or the function of the Ministry of Information. It cannot use government platform to attack critical voices in the country,” Snowe argued.
He suggested that if Minister Piah and his deputies wish to express personal opinions or engage in political banter, they should use their private platforms and not the official Ministry stage. “The minister and others have a platform at night that you can go to. Consider it an informal sector. Say what you want to say there. But when you go to the Ministry of Information and you begin to attack critical voices and insult people, national leaders, I think they are diluting the standard of that ministry and it’s turning more to a gangster-raising situation. I think they need to work on it,” he said.
Snowe’s remarks drew attention to what many in the Legislature and civil society have described as a troubling trend under Minister Piah’s leadership, where state media briefings and official press conferences are increasingly being used to attack critics rather than provide factual information and government policy updates.
The Senator’s strong rebuke has reignited public debate over the role of the Ministry of Information and whether its current leadership is upholding its constitutional and professional mandate. As Snowe put it, “We’re sitting down, looking at it, and we think it’s funny, but it’s very serious.”
