Liberia: Will Cummings Prosecute Alleged Corrupt Officials?

CPP Standard Bearer, Alexander B. Cummings

 

....… “I am saying to Liberians that we will put processes and systems in place. The people who will not follow the rules will be punished,” Cummings assured.

The Standard bearer of the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) has claimed that his government will prosecute anyone accused of corruption, saying there will be no sacred cow “prevented from facing the rule of law”.

Alexander Cummings noted that while his objective is to bring everyone on board to unseat President George Weah at the polls on October 10, 2023, his government will drag its feet in prosecuting anyone accused of any act of corruption. 

“I am saying to Liberians that we will put processes and systems in place. The people who will not follow the rules will be punished,” Cummings assured. “They will face the consequences of their actions against the rules and processes.

“Building the new Liberia requires a big hut and everybody must be a part of it. Nobody will be denied because of their tribe or religion. Even CDCians, if you follow the rules, you will be part of our team to rebuild this country.”

The CPP leader’s response came following a concern raised about his association with former government officials who had been accused of corruption or some form of war crimes.

The associations of concern are Daniel Chea,  former Defense Minister in President Charles Taylor's government, Ambassador Lewis Brown, and  Dr. Toga McIntosh. 

Brown, a former Liberian diplomat, worked in Taylor's government as a Security Advisor and then interim  Foreign Minister of Liberia in 2003. Taylor is a former Liberian politician and convicted warlord who served as the 22nd president of Liberia from August 2, 1997, until his resignation on August 11, 2003, as a result of the Second Liberian Civil War and growing international pressure.

Brown also worked in the administration of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as Information Minister and later Liberia’s permanent representative to the United Nation. As for McIntosh, a former top gun of President George Weah's ruling Coalition for Democratic Change, he worked in the Sirleaf administration as Minister of Planning and Economic Affairs and later, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Minister.

The two former Taylor Ministers were accused of war crimes by the then Truth and Reconciliation Commission, even though they have never been prosecuted, while McIntosh was allegedly involved in some passport corruption while serving as Minister of  Foreign Affairs.

While Brown and McIntosh do not have a strong political following, they are individuals who have circled the summit of public life both locally and internationally as seasoned technocrats and policy experts — a skill set that every politician needs.  And now they are the frontline for Cummings in his campaign efforts to unseat Weah.

However, the support of these former ministers had not stopped Cummings from centering his quest for the presidency on rule of law and fighting against corruption regardless of who is involved.

“If you think you are supporting our campaign to get what you want only for yourself, then you are wrong. Our vision is not about cutting people’s salaries,” Cummings said. “It is about increasing salaries and creating jobs for our people to get living wages as well as educating and empowering our people.

The CPP leader added that Weah has failed the country and the only way forward is to make him a one-term president at the ballot box.

“Fellow Liberians at home and abroad, as we celebrate Christmas and the New Year, we must continue to believe that we can change our tears of suffering into tears of joy,” he said, adding that hopelessness can become hopefulness.

He added Liberia is a blessed nation but the suffering, he says is a curse from those now leading the country. He promised that, when elected at the October 2023 polls, Liberians who can barely afford to feed themselves and send their children to school will have a joyous 2023 Christmas and a happy 2024 New year simply because there will be enough for people to afford.

“Our children do not have to go to foreign schools for college education and no one has to go to a foreign country for better treatment. We, too, can make our schools and our hospitals better,” he said.

Cummings noted that the future is never in the past and to change the country and make it better, there must be decisive actions that would ensure no child grows up and suffers the same bad conditions his or her parents endured, saying, “If not us, then whom else; and if not now, then when?”