The Standard Bearer of the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP), Alexander Cummings, says, unless Liberians vote out President George Weah the country is doomed to sink deeper into poverty, with more suffering, stealing and wasteful spending of public resources.
Cummings said President Weah’s five years rule has rendered Liberia weak, with no jobs, broken promises, no hope, no change, growing insecurity and lawlessness, compounded by mysterious killings that have scared away serious investors from Liberia.
The CPP Standard Bearer spoke in reaction to the State-of-the-Nation Address delivered by President Weah on Monday, January 30, 2023.
Cummings said in five years President Weah has dumped Liberia in a deep hole and has no idea how to get the country out of the deep hole, noting that “nearly $1 billion they have borrowed and have spent mostly on themselves.
“The Presidency is not a 419 business. Too many people’s lives depend on the honesty, integrity, discipline, judgment and decision of the President. Scheming everyday to fool people is not what Presidents are supposed to be doing,” Cummings said.
He said President Weah’s reference to Liberia as Miami, when the streets, hospitals, public utilities and governing systems are all broken down and crumbling, is a childish and offensive joke, adding that in five years Liberia has turned into a living hell for Liberians.
“Today, no one walking the streets of Monrovia needs to be told that it’s unsafe. No student or teacher needs to be told the educational system has gone from bad to worse. No parent needs to be told that the cost of living is rising so that caring for children and love ones is unbearable,” the CPP Standard Bearer said.
Cummings said no doctor, teacher, nurse or civil servant needs to be told their paycheck has been wickedly harmonized, to the extent that they are unable to pay their transport fare to work or feed their families for the month.
He said it is frustrating that young men and women, even after graduation, cannot find jobs, amidst broken promise by the President of creating one million jobs.
Cummings said traditional chiefs, elders and tribal leaders have not been spared from the harsh economic treatment and gross disrespect, when many of them were dismissed for political reasons, while many were denied placement on payroll, and are receiving handouts inadequate to care for their families.
The CPP Standard Bearer said President Weah’s six-year rule dashed the hopes of Liberian businesses, not only making them spectators in their own economy but threw them outside the stadium.
“In the last six years, too many dreams have been shattered, too many hopes dashed, too many promises broken, too many lives lost mysteriously, while too many families continue to grieve and are hurt with no hope of closure for the deaths of loved ones, some of whom were breadwinners for the family,” Cummings said.
The CPP Standard Bearer said under President Weah too many young people have continued to be at risk and have lost their future to drug and crime, while Liberian businesses continue to unfairly struggle, and many denied opportunities and left to suffer.
Cummings said infant mortality has reached alarming unprecedented high, while Liberians, including pregnant mothers, continue to die of preventable and curable illness due to lack of care and medical facilities.
“To buy food, pay school fees and rent, or settle hospital bills, Liberians do not need to wish they had money. They need to have money. Liberians do not need to beg to live. They need decent paying jobs,” Cummings said.
He reassured that a CPP government would guarantee that all Liberians, irrespective of political, religious and/or status in society, will be accorded equal rights and opportunities, while the working class will be paid decent salaries in keeping with their labor input.
Cummings assured Liberians that a CPP government would attract serious investors and companies that will create good paying jobs, and will provide the means for Liberians to grow and develop their small businesses into bigger ones.
The CPP Standard Bearer vowed to stop the stealing and lack of accountability in government, noting that “in a Cummings administration no matter who you are, if you steal from the Liberian people no place on earth will be safe for you to hide”.
He said an on-going review of the national budget has revealed massive budget padding, with millions hidden under certain ministries and agencies for unspecified and overestimated work, which he describes as wickedness and attempt to legalize stealing that will not be condoned in a Cummings administration.
“The harshest punishment for corruption in a Cummings administration will be given to those who will be deemed to be closet to me,” Cummings said with assurance that he will not, and does not need to steal one cent from the Liberian people.
