MONROVIA – It was a celebration galore for Bassonians from both home -drawn from Montserrado, Margibi, Rivercess and Grand Bassa Counties, and in the diaspora, who on Saturday, May 27, 2023 thronged at the famous Fairground in Buchanan to witness the historic occasion where the Standard Bearer of the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP), Alexander B. Cummings announced “one of the shining stars and daughters” of the Bassa people, Cllr. Charlyne Brumskine, a daughter of the late founder and former standard bearer of the Liberty Party (LP), Cllr. Charles Walker Brumskine, as his running mate in the ensuing October 10, 2023 general election. The auspicious program was held amidst singing, dancing, jubilation, exhibition of emotions and an atmosphere of “togetherness” from the thousands of Bassa-speaking people who graced the occasion.
In his lifetime, Brumskine was a foremost lawyer, politician, Christian and humanitarian whose services to the nation and its people were remarkable and will be remembered especially in the area of being an advocate of the rule of the law, one of the pillars upon which he built the Liberty Party and contested the 2005 general election, coming in the third place.
He was first elected as a senator for Grand Bassa County in 1997, the first election that was held after the warring parties to the conflict agreed to a ceasefire and embraced peace. He was subsequently elected by his colleagues as the President Pro Tempore of the Liberian Senate, the position he held with distinction and fought for the independence of the upper chamber of the national legislature as a way of ensuring a check and balance system as well as the smooth running of the government.
His strong stance on the rule of the law and good governance came with a bitter prize when then President Charles G. Taylor, whose distaste for anyone challenging his excesses saw him going after Cllr. Brumskine, with threats to his life. Brumskine fled the country and sought asylum in the United States for some time, before returning home.
Upon the exit of Taylor from power and the process of holding another election to end the Liberian crisis on course, Brumskine, along with his trusted friends founded the Liberty Party, and unsuccessfully contested the 2005 and 2011 elections but with outstanding performances that left an indelible mark on the electoral history of the country.
After the demise of the legendary legal luminary, the LP has been struggling to hold together as internal fighting engulfed the once united and strong political party that missed out on clinching state power by hard luck. The party has been dear to the Bassa people and so the emergence of Charlyne whom many have been referring to as the “Right Successor” has been attracting huge admiration.
Kicking off the important occasion, the National Chairman of the CPP, Musa Hassan Billity, who said he would be brief in his welcome remarks, extended thanks and appreciation to all the partisans who turned out as well as those who supported the program, asserting that he was happy that the Liberty Party has returned to base.
He spoke overwhelmingly of Mr. Cummings whom he described as a truthful and trusted person to work with and the Liberty has no regret of finding a worthy partner.
“I want you to join me to appreciate Mr. Alexander B. Cummings. When we were looking for a partner, someone who will find the solution to the problems of this country, someone who will not embarrass us by making a promise and not fulfilling it, we are happy that God has brought that person to us.
I want to use this time to thank Mr. Cummings. We want to use this time to say thank you to all the partisans. We want to tell you that your party has returned to base. And we want to tell you that we came back home with a prize. And today you will see that prize, I want to say thank you again’, Bility said, as shouts of “CPP!! CPP!!” floated in the air.
The observance of the traditional and cultural values of the people spiced up the occasion when traditional leaders and elders from mainly the core Bassa land, Grand Bassa and Rivercess counties, stepped forward to give blessing to Mr. Cummings and Charlyne as the pair embark on the journey to democratically wrestle power from the ruling establishment in a competition that will also be featuring other political parties.
The traditional leaders and elders, speaking through an interpreter, poured their hearts out to welcome Cummings and entourage who had travelled all the way to Buchanan City, the heartbeat of the Bassaland, to “honor us for picking one of our daughters as running mate”, and as demonstration of their appreciation, Cummings, his wife, Teresa and Charlyne were gowned with a traditional African woven cloth.
“We the elders in the Bassaland, to you our President in 2024, today as you have come to visit us, along with our daughters, it is binding on us to gown you.
“We are from the two counties, Grand Bassa and Rivercess. We will gown you and the chief elder from Rivercess will come and put his hands on your head so that you will lead this country the right way”, the elder said.
Cummings’s wife was also gowned, because, according to the elder, one cannot honor the husband without also honoring the wife. Cummings was given a symbolic cutlass to “brush the road for the people to pass” and his wife was presented with a symbolic “cook spoon”, as a symbol for her to “cook and feed her children”.
A remark from a lady who represented the women on the decision to gown Charlyn brought out some emotion as it relates to the services that her late father rendered to Bassaland.
“Our father who left us, left us with life, with a shining star with Bassa land and its people. If the person who will be the President of this country can pick our daughter, then it is a joyful thing to dress our gift God left us, the shining star, Brumskine left us’ ‘, she said amid cheers as the gowning ceremony took place.
A very inspiring speech at the occasion came from former Foreign Minister Gbehzongar M. Findley, who in his special remark lamented the infighting and disunity among the Bassa nation which only serve the interest of outsiders, which according to him take the form of “undermining each other in political contest”, and urged the citizens this time around to rally around Cllr. Charlyne Brumskine who is contesting as running mate to Mr. Cummings.
“The citizens and residents of Bassaland have for long been divided on political lines. Now the time has come for us to rally around our sister, Cllr. Brumskine, the Vice Standard Bearer to symbolize the beginning of the oneness of the Bassaland or the Bassa people. How long shall we continue to divide our people based on narrow political differences?
“We no longer want to see the people of Bassaland fight for those who do not have real solutions confronting our people. We must now unite and hold together to support our own sister, Cllr. Vice Standard Bearer of the CPP.
“To this end, and on behalf of the chiefs, elders, youth, students and especially women in the Bassa land, we firmly endorse the nomination of Cllr. Brumskine as Vice Standard Bearer of the CPP and also endorse Alexander B. Cummings as the Standard Bearer of the CPP and as the next President of the Republic of Liberia”, he said.
Findley, who formerly served as senator for Grand Bassa County and later on as president pro tempore of the Liberian Senate, just as the late Cllr. Brumskine, said the nomination of Charlyne Brumskine represents two things for the country, particularly the Bassa land, one being that Mr. Cummings places emphasis on women leadership in politics and on the other hand inclusiveness that will promote genuine reconciliation and unity among the people.
In an emotionally charged, Madam Estelle Brumskine, widow of the late founder of LP and mother of Charlyne, ignited the arena with fond memories of her late husband, touching on the impact he had on Charlyne’s life, while also thanking the Bassonians for the tremendous support they are giving to Charlyne going to the 2023 general elections.
“Today, I stand before you – a proud mother, a proud Bassonian and a proud Liberian! I also stand here with mixed feelings – joy and sadness, sadness because Charlyne’s father the late Cllr. Charles Walker Brumskine – who had such a tremendous impact and influence in her life – is not physically with us today. However, I feel his presence, and I know he is looking down at us and is saying to Charlyne, or Miah (as he affectionately called her) I am so proud of you – carry on with the vision to bring change and improve the lives of Liberians!
“Thank you Bassaland, for presenting your daughter and mother, Charlyne Mnamah-mar Brumskine, to Mr. Alexander B. Cummings, to be his running mate for the October 2023 presidential race! Thank you for presenting GBOSAYDYU… THE CHILD BRUMSKINE LEFT WITH US!!
“I can assure you that Charlyne Mnamah-mah will make Bassonians proud, and not only Bassonions, but also every Liberian in every county, in every part of our country. She is someone whose dream in life is to be of help and to make a difference!”, she said amid cheers.
For his part, the exciting CPP Standard Bearer, Alexander B. Cummings, while thanking the people of Bassaland, said he was humble to stand before the audience as standard bearer of the CPP, asserting that he was grateful that he has gotten a partner who together will change the country to what it ought to be.
“Most importantly, together Charlyne and I will change Liberia. The women of Liberia will have the biggest partner for the development of Liberia. The young people will have opportunities to achieve what they want, including jobs, education, empowerment, etc. Come January 2024, you will see it and see the difference in Liberia. I am blessed today to have Charlyne as my partner.
“Charlyne has integrity, she is smart, has charisma, can connect and together we will win in October in the first round. We will start the transition and come January we will start the restoration for the economic growth and development of the country”, Cummings said confidently and received a rousing applause.
The moment of the day then came when Charlyne, dressed in a long green gown marched to the podium when she was called upon to make her acceptance speech which was punctuated at most parts by cheers. She expressed her thanks and appreciation to the CPP for the opportunity given to her as well as the people of Bassaland for standing with her.
She set the occasion on fire by speaking on some of the issues that greeted her political journey, especially so in the wake of her nomination to be the running mate to Mr. Cummings, among which was that she has no public service experience.
“My fellow Liberians there are many of you who have questioned whether it was the right time to accept a Vice Standard Bearer post in the nascent stage of my political sojourn. Many of you expressed strong views about me staying with the representative bid and or as some of you put “starting” at the bottom. To you I say that no revolution was born out of perfect timing, history was never made by those who followed conventional formulas of how life should progress.
“Societies in decline do not have the luxury to “wait your turn”. We must quickly grab the willing, best and the brightest. We must have an urgent sense of now! I am not a career politician and never sought out to be one. I came to the political discourse because I believe in a better Liberia. A Liberia of inclusivity. A Liberia, led by honest, innovative, and courageous men and women. Leaders with a vision to transform our country coupled with the discipline and will to make the hard decisions to implement the vision.
“Liberians I admit, I am not a traditional politician. I have never served in government. Yet, I have served my country. I have served through my law practice, I am the Founder and Managing Partner of CMB, a law firm that I established in 2018, which is one of the fastest growing and respected providers of legal services in Liberia. I have served as a professor at the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law ensuring that legal scholars are equipped with a solid foundation of legal research and writing skills so that they too may serve our nation through the law.
“I have served my country by providing educational assistance to scores of Liberians through financial aid. I have served by equipping the government hospital in Buchanan City with operational needs when the government itself had failed. I have served by providing solar lights in the darkest communities in Buchanan so that we minimize rape and armed robbery”, she said among other things.
Adding glamor and spice to the program, top Liberian artists, including MC Caro, Sunday Deaboy, among others serenaded the crowd with their latest songs, as traditional dancers and cultural troupes enthralled the audience.