MNOROVIA : Leaked messages linking top members of Liberia’s biggest opposition bloc, the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP), and key officials of the Government of Liberia, seemingly point to a darkened conspiracy aimed at obstructing CPP constituent political leader Alexander B. Cummings from not only ascending to the CPP Standard Bearer post, but to damage his chances of ascending to the nation’s top post in 2023.
In any case, it seems Cummings is getting to be a hard nut to crack, evidenced by the leaked message purportedly emanating from Government’s hired lobbyist Riva Levinson to Liberia’s Ambassador to Washington, Mr. George Pattern, warning that the prosecution of Cummings on what appears to be trumped up charges has not been well received. Not well received? By whom? As this Analyst special report digs deeper, it is learned that Washington is not comfortable with the current prosecution of the ANC standard-bearer given his squeaky-clean record, coupled with his worldwide business connections and global acclaim.
Alternative National Congress (ANC) standard bearer Alexander Cummings has recently been embroiled in a lawsuit brought about by his constituent CPP political leader Benoni Urey of the All Liberian Party (ALP) for allegedly altering the CPP Framework Document. The lawsuit has sent the CPP into a nasty tailspin, with most of their sympathizers becoming overly concerned about the fate of the country’s biggest opposition bloc that is expected to democratically uproot Weah’s Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) government in 2023.
While the Urey/ALP lawsuit has unquestionably divided the CPP further, with a cross section of Liberians questioning the endgame, while others agree it is the right thing to do to settle the perennial issue of forgery, the leaked messages now seem to suggest something more sinister than meets the eye.
“Further to our conversation the other day, I have made some inquiries. The prosecution of Alexander Cummings on what appears to be trumped up charges has not been well-received. There is renewed interest in Nathaniel McGill, whom you know from our previous conversations there is a dossier on. Now Benoni Urey and his daughter Telia have also attracted attention, as has the Solicitor General Cyrennius Cephas. I think people are also looking into the judge’s record, to see if he has a history of corruption. Just wanted to let you know, based on our relationship. Other than that, I hope you have a good weekend,” Riva Levinson reportedly messaged the Liberian Ambassador to Washington recently.
The leaked social media message which was allegedly forwarded to President Weah’s Minister of State Nathaniel McGill by talk show host Henry Costa consequently caused whirlwind of reactions when the public got wind of the controversial message late Saturday evening after Mr. Costa’s Council of Patriot (COP) Secretary General Mulbah Yorgbor resigned upon glancing the contents of the message in the COP chat room where others had believed he was no longer part of.
According to a highly placed source within the Washington lobbying circle, who prefers not to be named in this report, the United States Government is getting very much concerned about the current political situation in Liberia, which the source says Washington feels could impinge on Liberia’s nascent democracy.
“Liberia went through three successful post war democratic elections, and the country’s first peaceful democratic transition in decades. But what is obtaining now has Washington worried that their peace-building efforts could be derailed by political tensions in Liberia that might escalate into full blown conflict. Washington is watching Liberia with eagle eyes, especially as it relates to the ongoing trial of Mr. Cummings. There are strong feelers at Capitol Hill that the Cummings trial is a political scam to weaken the opposition. But the backlash from this trial could leave a bitter taste in the mouths of many who are trying to circumvent the democratic process,” the source intimated.
Attempts to contact Minister of State Nathaniel McGill for his reaction to the purported leaked social media messages proved futile up to press time. However, a local daily had quoted President’s Weah Minister of State as denying ever forwarding the message to Henry Costa, even though Minister McGill disclosed that he had forwarded the message to the ALP political leader Benoni Urey, Solicitor General Cyrennius Cephus, and Lenn Eugene Nagbe.
For his part, Solicitor General Cyrennius Cephas termed the purported message from Riva Levinson as “a figment” of the author’s imagination.
“The recent purported text message allegedly written by a certain Riva Levinson is quite stunning and it makes quite a pathetic reading. It’s a pale reflection of the purported author’s brazen lack of understanding of the Solicitor General’s role in the prosecution of criminal cases in the Liberian jurisprudence. The text is patently grotesque in character and content and seems to have been crafted on the foundation of fear and misinformation being spread about a legitimate forgery and criminal conspiracy case against Mr. Alexander B. Cummings and his co-conspirators,” SG Cephas stated.
“To attempt to target people, specifically the Solicitor General in a matter that was initiated based on the Liberian Criminal Procedure Code which grants citizens the unfettered constitutional rights to complain before a court of law about the alleged violations of their basic rights as in the case of the opposition ALL LIBERIAN PARTY(ALP) and for which a formal criminal arrest warrant may be issued, clearly shows the author does not understand the Liberian judicial system. The purported author of the text message should understand that at the moment Cummings and his collaborators are, under the principle of presumption of innocence, still presumed innocent until the contrary is established beyond all reasonable doubts. Being that the burden of proof rests on the state, it’s but fair to all and sundry to be circumspect rather than being judgmental and inflammatory in their attacks against their perceived enemies, not least the Honorable Solicitor General and Chief Prosecutor of this sovereign Republic. The text lacking proper context in addressing the statutory and constitutional involvement of the Solicitor General for and behalf of the Republic of Liberia and failing to foresee the possible civil unrest, chaos and a state of pandemonium that the alleged forgery and criminal conspiracy may have generated, if the court had not taken seize of the matter, by issuing the appropriate criminal writ, is nothing but the author’s own figment of imagination of how he wants a matter of such grave nature to be treated lightly irrespective of the quantum of available evidence. The Solicitor General has not and shall not, now and going forward, conjecture the slightest impression to cow either based on this text or in any other matter where the Republic of Liberia is a party no matter who is involved. The author should ask all those who subscribe to the rule of law to appreciate and respect the court process,” SG Cephas said.
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