An authoritative source in the All Liberian Party (ALP) has made startling revelation that the former President of the Republic of Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, is leading the effort in lobbying against the Liberian government in the United States of America.
This information appears to be catching many persons by surprise, as it was speculated that President George M. Weah and ex-President Sirleaf are on good footing. But this appears not to be the case, as sources say Cummings is at better standing with the former President than any other prominent politician vying for the presidency come 2023.
According to the ALP source, ex-President Sirleaf has not yet forgiven President Weah and his administration for the shame and disgrace they brought to her son, Charles Sirleaf, former Deputy Governor for Operation at the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL)—handcuffing him and dragging him to the Monrovia Central Prison for corruption.
The Hot Pepper is being told that the relationship between ex-President Sirleaf and Cummings still remains cordial, as Cummings once informed the paper that the former President is his very good friend and there is nothing anyone can do about it.
Cummings sounded unapologetic about his friendship with Ellen, and it seems like nothing has changed since.
The Hot Pepper is also being informed that the US$180,000 lobbying fee is being galvanized, with the former President leading the effort in generating the funds. It is no argument that Ellen is an influential person in American politics, wheeling influence on big names, such as George Soros, Hilary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, Linda Thomas Greenfield, Bill Gates, Michelle Obama, etc.
If the information is anything to go by, the Weah administration is about to face an upheaval task, as information accessed by the Hot Pepper says the former President is putting her all into ensuring that President Weah is not re-elected in 2023.
It is obvious that President Weah was not Ellen’s preferred candidate to succeed her, but because he was the only person who pulled more electorate over her perceived “foe”, Ambassador Joseph N. Boakai, she had to rally support for him. However, this is now history.
In 2017, Alexander Cummings was a newbie in the Liberian politics, and therefore it was perceived he would not make much breakthrough in that election. It was said that Ellen sought solace in the Liberty Party (LP), then headed by Cllr. Charles W. Brumskine, but their political marriage would be short-lived, after she allegedly realized that the LP could not pull the anticipated crowd, after all the financial inducement and investment.
It was said that she then turned to Weah and his Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), because the “boys” from the Unity Party (UP) were giving her sleepless nights amidst threats of turning her over to a war crimes tribunal.
Howbeit, ex-President Sirleaf could not even wait for Weah’s inauguration ceremony to complete before leaving the stadium, driving herself strictly home and then to her farm. She remained silent for a while in Liberian politics, until the CBL tale.
Now that news filtering in the public is that she is behind lobbying against the Weah regime, observers are saying she is yet to forgive President Weah for what he did to her son, and may go the extra mile for a payback.
However, the news about Ellen lobbying against Weah and the CDC is not strange, as she took on a lobbying spree against the party in 2011, in order to dwarf CDC’s public relations moves in the US. The Ellen anti-CDC lobby in 2011 was published in the Concord Times on Monday, June 27, 2011.
It can be recalled that the Weah administration recently hired a number of lobbying firms to push the government’s development agenda with the US government, but their effort is being derailed with the news of the opposition, too, hiring a lobbying firm to support their agenda for 2023.
This information points to the fact that the 2023 election has come early, and the race is not to the swift but to those who will endure to the end.