Cummings Gives Insight of His Agenda for Liberia -Says He Will Tackle Insecurity, Protect Rule of Law, Boost Economy, etc -On his trial: “Accusers Will Pay Dearly If I Am Not Guilty”

The Political leader and Standard Bearer of the Alternative National Congress Mr. Alexander B. Cummings has given insight what appears to be his agenda for Liberia if he is elected President in 2023, vowing to tackle the deteriorating state of insecurity, promote and protect the rule of law and boost the economy as well as making sure that those who accused and took him and others to court for alleged altering of the framework of the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) pay dearly if he is not found guilty.

Mr. Cummings unveiled what appears to be his agenda on Sunday Evening, April 24, 2022 when he appeared as a guest on the live program of the Spoon TV Network where he also spoke on a variety of issues bothering the country and its future.

“I say this out of humility, that the state of our country is not good, starting from the state of insecurity. When I say these things I want for the Liberian people to know that I say them with sincerity and from the position of fact, the state of affairs has been concerning, there has been many stories of unexplained deaths, some recent, some a while ago and one of the basic expectation of a state or government is to provide security for its people so the people can freely move around. Unfortunately, that is a problem today in our country.

”The economy continues to be on the decline, prices increasing, unemployment rate is high, the core areas around the economy has been a challenge for us in Liberia”, Mr. Cummings said while giving a summary on the state of affairs of Liberia.

When asked to give a synopsis of quick changes he intends to implement if he is elected giving the current state of affairs and his corporate experience over the years, said he will embark upon and implement three quick approaches, namely that he will build a team of qualified Liberians both at home and abroad who have the relevant competence in the various sectors of the economy so as to repair the damage done to the country, create an environment where people feel safe, stressing that unless a country has that sense of security, no one  is going to invest in the country and thirdly to make sure the rule of law that will fix the justice system  so that courts can adjudicate fairly without molestation from the government.

Mr. Cummings said achieving the third will lead him to focus on keys areas such as stopping stealing and corruption, recovering looted money and investing it into the development of infrastructures, agriculture to obtain food security and sufficiency and create jobs; working on the regulatory environment so as to ease doing business and then paying salaries of civil servants, security personnel, health workers so that they cannot be tempted to steal from government’s funds for development, compromising on providing security and not stealing and selling drugs meant for hospitals.

Responding to a follow up question on what he could do in the first 90 days in office as President, Mr. Cummings said he will tackle stealing in public offices, offer credit facilities to Liberian businesses to improve on their undertaking so as to create jobs and promote the wellbeing of the people, create a robust youth service program and conducting a comprehensive audit of what he inherits from his predecessor.

He said President George Manneh Weah was not succeeding in the fight against corruption because he is not serious about fighting corruption. He said under his administration, if any of his officials is being linked to corruption, the person will be given a leave of absence so as to be investigated and will be prosecuted and bear the full wrath of the laws if found guilty, something he said President Weah has not been able to summon the courage to do.

On what is the present state of the CPP, Mr. Cummings said the collaboration still exists with the ANC and LP presently carrying on the torch of real change, the belief in the rule of law, fight against corruption and other bad aspect of governance while the UP and ALP have decided to leave, adding that he thinks the two parties disappointed the Liberian people.

While answering a question on whether the Liberian people are disappointed in the entire original four political leaders of the CPP for allowing the collaboration to head the way it is presently, Mr. Cummings said collectively he will take the blame because he was part and parcel of the leadership but he has also taken the initiative to stay back to repair what was damaged and keep on restoring the hope of the Liberian people for a better alternative government in 2023.

The businessman turned politician also took time to address the dependency syndrome found in Liberians which he said has inversely impacted the development such as the heavy reliance on taking loans or borrowing from the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund(IMF).

“We are not saying we will not take loans or accept assistance being offered us, but given the resources we have if we manage them well we will do what we want to do without taking loans or asking people. Under our government we will maximize full use of the benefits of our resources and minimize the urge to borrow or ask for assistance from external sources. I keep telling people that we are too rich in resources to be poor. What do I mean? We have gold, diamond, iron ore, and perhaps bauxite and other resources. We need to have the full value of our resources, not few people benefiting”. Mr. Cummings said.

He did not mince words how according to him he has been accused falsely by his colleagues and taken to court on false charges, the negative impact on Liberia’s image according to him and how it undermines the country’s ability to recover the collapsing economy that brings pain and suffering to the people. He however expressed optimism that he will be vindicated.

 He said his reliance of being acquitted at the end of the trial is the inability of the government to produce evidence against him and the fact that the Solicitor General Syrenius Cephas could publicly admit at the court that he has omitted evidences from the WhatsApp group page of the National Advisory Council of the CPP to conceal important information that will exonerate him from the charges against him.

The ANC political leader who was strict to the point in stating that he cherished his integrity and reputation most than anything else, something that he has built for the past 40 years, said that there are dire consequences that his accusers will pay if he is not found guilty but for now will keep his options open until the final day.

 Speaking on what will be his response if the UP Standard-bearer Joseph N. Boakai does not appear in court as a witness to testify against him, Mr. Cummings said, he believes that the Mr. Boakai who like him, respects the rule of law will appear in court but will not be definite on what he (Cummings) will do if the VP refuses to appear.

He said he expects that the law should be applied consistently across the board and not for any particular people, adding that he decided to honor the court orders not because he was accused but because he believes in the rule of law and respects the judiciary of the country.

The ANC top politician used the occasion to also debunked rumors making the rounds that he had offered bribes to Mr. Boakai as an inducement to step down from contesting the CPP presidential ticket during a meeting in Ghana. He said the meeting was mutually agreed upon by both the Boakai and his camp to continue having conversation moving forward in a different environment and that there was no foreign influence or interest in their discussion to the best of his knowledge, thereby putting to pay the insinuation in some quarters was that the meeting was arranged or attended by Alan White, a lead campaigner for the Establishment of War Crime Court in Liberia.