-CPP’s Cummings Laments
MONROVIA: The Political Leader of the Collaborating Political Party (CPP), Alexander B. Cummings, has lamented that under President George Weah, the Liberian Nation has become increasingly lawless.
Cummings added that lawlessness is a serious threat to democracy, and a risk to any nation’s stability and security.
“Our peace is shaky. Too many Liberians are living in fear; too many are jobless, and too many are without employable skills. Things are bad and getting worse, homes are breaking down; families are falling apart; children are forced to become breadwinners as drugs and crimes take over our streets and communities. Women and girls continue to struggle for protection from crimes such as rape, and inclusion in national decision-making,” he said.
In his recent Independence Day message, the CPP Political leader said our nation is struggling with political insecurity and economic fragility. “We are in serious trouble, my people,” he declared.
“International financial institutions are keeping us on economic life-support. All across the country, and in every political party, Liberians are suffering. Serious international investors are not finding our country to be a suitable destination for investments under President Weah,” he noted.
According to him, the government is corrupt, wasteful, divisive, irresponsible, and cannot be trusted to obey its own laws.
He noted that, even worse, the Weah administration does not know what it is doing, and cannot inspire a reset of the nation’s compass so we find our way to a bright and united future. Under President Weah, our country is adrift, noting that, ‘we have lost our way,
He pointed out that, admittedly, Liberia’s decline did not begin with President Weah but, every good thing this administration inherited, it has effectively made bad, and every bad thing, including corruption that it inherited, it has made historically worse.
Mr. Cummings indicated that, over the last 6 years, Liberia has become a Gangster’s Paradise presided over by a band of thieves. Our country is a drug haven, our diplomatic passports are possessed by international criminals, our democracy is under threat, lawlessness abounds, and our governance system is overtaken by cronyism, incompetence and stalking dictatorship.
“As if this is not dangerous enough, starved of new ideas and vision, some political leaders are deepening the wounds of our fractured nation and lowering our politics into an appeal to tribal and religious divisions. Liberians of every tribe and religion are suffering the mismanagement of our country and the result of a corrupt leadership”.
He stressed that, now is not the time to fuel tribal tensions or to divide our people.
“And so, if any political leader wants to take us backward, they should know that Liberians desire to move forward, talk about tribe, but our people want to talk about fixing the economy so they can find good and decent-paying jobs” he stated.
Commenting on dialect, the CPP Political leader said, our people want to fix their roads, fix their schools and fix their hospitals.
He said Liberians of all tribes want to see their lives improved and so, if they have no new ideas about how to fix our country and stop the suffering of our people, shut up and sit down!
“My Fellow Liberians, I have worked in many foreign capitals around the world and have built accountable systems and I have also led teams comprising citizens of many different countries and know that citizens of other nations are not smarter than we are. Our country is richly blessed, my people, including with competent and qualified citizens who can properly manage our country and lead us to a new future of unity and shared prosperity,” he said.
He emphasized that, Liberia is rich in talents and human capacity and he sees them in every political party and across all tribes and he sees them in every religion across the Liberian Diaspora.
He promised to work with everyone, irrespective of differences in tribe, gender, religion and political party affiliation.
“All we will require is a new mindset of high integrity and a commitment to public accountability, which I will lead, by example, to fix the broken system,” he said.
He noted that, for him, real change is not a meaningless political slogan because I refused to agree that they must continue to accept low standards, incompetence and lack of integrity in the leadership of our country.
The CPP Political Leader said he refused to accept that Liberians are cursed to be poor and corrupt, and that it is ok for the Liberian political leaders to continue to corruptly negotiate away our natural resources so that we have increasingly become a rent-seeking and dependent nation.
“I refused to accept that after shipping out our rubber, diamond, iron ore and gold, our communities still need to be without first-class schools, our hospitals without modern technology and equipment, and our roads continue to be unpaved and impassable. We have to fix this foolishness” he said.
He stated that that, he strongly disagreed that we must continue to outsource the responsibilities of our government to other nations and international organizations.
“Of course, we need international assistance. But we do not need others to do for us what we can, and should be doing, for ourselves. Liberia is not cursed by God to have corrupt leaders and poor people” he noted
He also said he is running for President to change these things and to stop the mismanagement of our country, to change the selfish, greedy, corrupt, and exclusionary mindset that continues to keep us poor, our government corrupt, and our people divided.
Mr. Cummings said our youthful population is dynamic, talented, and ambitious. They hold the key to unlocking the vast potential of our country.
He reiterated that the real change is about empowering young people to be the torchbearers of hope and leaders of a new inclusive and progressive society.
“Young people need to believe that hard work pays off, and that success is possible if anyone is willing to work for it, at our STEM school, and across many of our institutions of leaning, I see that with just a little help, and with the right mindset to work hard in pursuit of excellence, our children can reach heights in life many parents could not reach” he said.
He warned that the growing drug epidemic that is sweeping the nation, undermining our nation’s future, and killing our children.
He said such is this inhumane crime that is mostly targeting our young people that nowhere – not even school campuses – appear to be safe and off-limits to the drug peddlers and their enablers.
“Today, let me put the drug traffickers and enablers on notice: We will come after you for what you are doing to our children, and to the future of our country, “he said.
He warned those evolved to stop now because under a Cummings-led government, there will be no hiding place for drug traffickers except in our prisons! To those who are already addicted, help is on the way
He used the occasion admonished Liberians to elect the right leadership to inspire a change in mindset, if we are serious to lift Liberians from poverty.
He further that the educational system of Liberia is a shameful mess while the health system is a disgrace; and the justice system is a joke.
“We cannot even trust the government to fairly investigate and impartially interpret our laws,” he said.
