… Cummings Reacts To President Weah’s 6th SONA
By: G Bennie Bravo Johnson
The Political Leader of the opposition Alternative National Congress and Standard Bearer of the Collaborating Political Parties, Alexander B. Cummings, has described President Weah’s sixth State of the Nation Address as a complete lie, asserting that the president’s leadership has weakened the republic and that Liberians should ensure that he doesn’t get reelected.
Addressing a news conference on Tuesday, January 31, 2023, Alexander Cummings said it is about time that Liberians prepare to take the necessary action, especially in October, to have the president voted out as a result of what he termed his alleged failure to meet the needs of Liberia.Cummings added that the president does not have what he termed “presidential leadership skills,” asserting that leadership matters even more in any country.Meanwhile, he called on Liberians to make a positive change in every aspect of the country, stating that everything starts and ends with the president.
“The President leads the government to determine, for example, whether or not people have access to well-paying jobs; children have access to quality education; hospitals have beds and medicines to treat sick people; market women have enough customers to buy their goods and to make profits,” Cummings stated.
He further stated that the country is not being headed by a president of leadership but rather the country is running itself because the president doesn’t know what is to be done as a president.”Because President Weah does not know what he is supposed to be doing, for six years, our country has been running itself.” When a country runs itself, the result is that nothing works. When the country runs itself, people lose their jobs, and those with jobs can’t take their pay on time.
Every day, there is a new protest for something that is wrong because protesting is the only way people believe they can get solutions to their problems. Streets and communities become unsafe. “Crime goes up, ghettos open everywhere, the society becomes lawless, and serious investors either run away or refuse to come to our country.”He continued by providing that the State of our Republic is weak with no jobs, broken promises, no hope, no change, and no security, and too much suffering and much stealing going on under President Weah’s leadership. He added that Liberia, in the last six years under President Weah, has been placed into a deep hole, and the president has no idea how to get Liberia out of the deep hole he has put it in. Cummings continued by stating that nearly 2 billion dollars have been borrowed and expanded with little or no accountability on how it has been spent, something he said that created a bigger hole in the country’s economy without refilling the previous ones.
“They are not even ‘digging hole to cover hole’. They are wickedly digging new holes and throwing the dirt away! “They are making the Liberian people suffer today, and all this borrowing, stealing, and wasteful spending will make our children suffer to pay it back tomorrow.”
He called on Liberians not to grant President Weah another chance, as doing so would create an enabling environment for the president to dig a bigger hole and make the Liberian people suffer even more, stating that enough is enough and no one should give President Weah a second chance.
The opposition leader continued by asserting that president Weah’s leadership has made Liberia a living hell for Liberians, providing that the streets of Monrovia are becoming more unsafe and the quality of basic needs are deteriorating under president Weah’s leadership.
“Today, no one walking the streets of Monrovia needs to be told that it is unsafe. No Liberian student or teacher needs to be told that 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 loved ones is unbearable.”
Meanwhile, the opposition leader assured that a government under President Cummings’s leadership will provide the means and push Liberians to grow their small businesses into bigger ones, stating that Liberian businesses succeed if Liberians will actually own the building of Liberia’s economy because that is the only way the common people can contribute to developing Liberia. He added that his leadership will prioritize helping Liberians succeed, as their respective talents, efforts, and enterprising spirits deserve.
“Rather than continue to abandon our schools and hospitals to the charity and goodwill of private and faith-based institutions, we will provide the much-needed help and support to schools and hospitals so that all of our children can get quality education and every Liberian can get the quality medical treatment they deserve, right here in Liberia.” He continued that his administration will put an end to what he termed “stealing” and “a lack of accountability in government, “ stating that it is one of the important ways to change the living conditions of the common Liberian.
“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.”The harshest punishment for corruption in a Cummings Administration will be given to those who will be deemed to be closest to me.”
He added that Liberia will not develop until the government is serious about stopping corruption by imposing punishment on those proven to be corrupt. “I will not, and I do not need to steal one cent from the Liberian people.” And so, if anyone who will be in my administration thinks they need to steal, we will deal with you drastically, so everybody will know that public service is to serve the public and not to steal from the public. He further stated that the riches of Liberia is for the people of Liberia, and the attitude of dividing the national budget so that schools and hospitals, and all the things that the Liberian people need to improve their lives, are cut down and given to the president, vice president, speaker, pro-tempore, and deputy speaker, will end in a Cummings-led government.
Meanwhile, he asserted that the ongoing review of the national budget is showing money being hidden under certain ministries and agencies for unspecified work and overestimated work, something he stated is an attempt to legalize stealing in Liberia.
On the other hand, he provided that in the first six months of his leadership, an audit committee would be set up to ensure that Liberia regained whatever had been illegally taken away.
“No one who steals from the Liberians should think they will get away with it. We will thoroughly investigate and audit public expenditures including, but not limited to, the missing millions, the $25 million U.S. Dollar Mop-Up, the COVID Relief Fund, and the National Road Fund. Anyone involved in stealing will be prosecuted in keeping with the law. “I mean what I say and only say what I mean.”Let me also be clear about all of these mysterious deaths: In the first six months of a Cummings Presidency, we will commission a team of professionals to investigate. Wherever foul play is discovered, we will deal with the situation as law-abiding societies should, Cummings added.
