Liberia: Cummings Says "Shame on ALP for Taking Me to Court"

Flashback: Cummings at the Monrovia City Court with his fist in the air after being free on bail. 

Alexander Benedict Cummings, political leader of the Alternative National Congress (ANC), has categorized the All Liberian Party (ALP) as a political party acting in shame and assured his supporters of victory at the Court.

“They didn’t know that they are making [me] popular and popular everyday by their shameless actions but I will defeat them,” he told his supporters at his party’s headquarters in Congo Town upon filing his criminal appearance bond on Tuesday, January 4.

Cummings' reaction came following the filing of legal action against him on a charge of forgery -- that Cummings allegedly altered the Framework Document that brought the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) together after the 2017 Representative and Presidential Elections.

“I think ALP made a serious mistake. The charges are baseless. They don’t know they are making me more popular to the Liberian people. They don’t realize that my reputation with the Liberian people is strong and that no matter what they say or do, Liberian people believe in me,” Cummings said as his jubilant supporters cheered him on.

As he told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC-Focus on Africa) recently, the ANC political leader reiterated that the ALP's political leader Benoni Urey is an operative of the George Weah led government and one who is happy to continue seeing Liberia the way it currently is.

“The people who are fighting us are benefiting from the rotten system. They want it to remain the way it is. It is just about them and their families. They know when the Liberian people elect us as President we will bring changes to every system that is messy and hold them accountable for their corrupt actions. This is what they are fighting against but we will continue to fight back and we will win them,” Cummings boasted.

He said all of what his colleagues are doing is paving the way for his victory to the Presidency in 2023.

He reassured his supporters and the Liberian nation at large that he will not relent to fight on their behalf for the better Liberia they deserve.

“But, you know, God is working. This is the beginning of our fight to victory in 2023. Be assured that we will continue to fight on behalf of the Liberian people. Our people who are suffering, this fight is about you. We are fighting for you,” he noted.

Cummings, who came fifth in the 2017 presidential race George Weah who became President, former Vice President Joseph Nyumah Boakai, Charles Walker Brumskine (deceased) and Senator Prince Y. Johnson, said in order for everyone to benefit from the country’s wealth, the current groups of leaders, both in the ruling establishment and some segments of the opposition bloc, must not continue to have the opportunity to lead.

He thanked his supporters and sympathizers for showing up at the Court to witness the beginning of a legal process he is certain that he will win.

He was emphatic when he mentioned and thanked the Musa Bility faction of the Liberty Party (LP), a constituent political party within the CPP, which is also experiencing its own internal wrangling as the CPP is at the brink of collapse.

“Thank you Liberty Party for standing with us in this fight. Shame on all of our compatriots who are silent when this nonsense in our political history is being marketed,” he concluded.

For Urey, the due legal course aims to teach Cummings a lesson that truth telling is good and taking responsibility for wrongdoing is vital.
To the BBC and the local media, the ALP political leader, who has already withdrawn his political party from the CPP, Cummings must face the law and answer to charges responsible for breaking down the enviable political conglomeration.

In December 2020, the CPP, under the chairmanship of Cummings, fought a good fight and won a majority of the Senate seats available.

When he turned over the mantle of authority to Senator Nyonblee Karnga Lawrence, and with the proposed primaries nearing, a heated war if words ensued between him and former Vice President Joseph Nyumah Boakai, standard bearer of the former ruling Unity Party (UP) as to who should become the standard bearer of the CPP to face Weah at the polls in 2023.

For Boakai, he was the number two man in the country for twelve consecutive years during the administration of then President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. As far as he is concerned, the only way for him is to ascend to the presidency.

He boasts of experience and a flawless reputation in public service but Cummings, who also does not care to settle for the VP position, disagrees with the former VP on grounds that in twelve years under Madam Sirleaf, the change did not come and there is now a need for a new face in him.

He argued against the bloc voting introduced by the UP to select its political leader for the role of standard-bearer for the CPP and has since been opposed by Benoni Urey and Senator Karnga Lawrence and Senator Abraham Darius Dillon to succeed in becoming the face of the collaboration.