“I Will Not Witch-hunt Anyone” -Says Cummings at ANC Fundraiser in Germany

MONROVIA – The Political Leader and Standard Bearer of the Alternative National Congress (ANC), Alexander B. Cummings, says while his administration will do everything possible to ensure that the George Manneh Weah Government is audited and made to account for its stewardship to the Liberian people, he will not witch hunt anyone on mere allegations, but integrity institutions like the Internal Audit Agency(IAA), the General Audit Commission (GAC) and the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) will be mandated and empowered to do their job.

Cummings made the assertion on Friday, July 8, 2022 when he graced the fundraiser program organized by the Europe Branch of ANC Global in Hannover, Germany, where partisans and supporters of the party had turned out in their numbers to raise funds in support of the presidential bid of the businessman-turned-politician, and to as well gather from their leader the current state of the nation, and his plans for the country when he is elected in 2023.

“One of the first things we are going to do on the first day in January 2024 is to ask the integrity institutions including the LACC, the GAC and the IAA to audit what we are inheriting, to audit the previous government. We are going to make sure they get the resources and freedom to do it. But what we are not going to do is to tell them to audit a particular person, that is wrong. We are going to follow what the evidence says. So, if the evidence goes to you, we are going to prosecute you.

“We are not going to say: prosecute President Weah, Nathaniel McGill, Samuel Tweah. No, we are not going to pick and choose, that is a wrong way to prosecute cases. We shall have the evidence. We are not going to force it; if the evidence does not lead to that, I am not going to force it,” Mr. Cummings stated emphatically.

Responding to a question on how he felt during the court case against him for allegedly altering the framework document of the CPP which was later on dropped, and the current status of the CPP, Cummings said he has no regret about the allegation because it afforded him a learning curve, adding that in as much as he has no regret, he will be lying if he says he was not disappointed about the outcome as he went into the collaboration with the right intentions.

“You know the collaboration worked for two years. We went into an election in December 2020, the CPP won outright six seats and nobody had any issue. It was when we were approaching the selection of the CPP standard bearer that they brought all the problems. To answer your question, I didn’t regret it, I learned a lot from it, the individuals, the politics, there is a lot of learning. Moving forward, we are going to make sure we don’t make some of the same mistakes again”, he said.

He told the audience that the ANC was still in collaboration with the Liberty Party, and together they constitute the current CPP, and that efforts are being made to bring on board other political parties to expand the CPP so as to ‘build a big tent”.

Cummings attributed the source of the problem he has been encountering to other politicians because according to him, he is not part of their political games premised on corruption and doing the wrong thing. “Do you know why the whole system is fighting me including the government, people from inside, even the so-called opposition? They are all part of the system. They want their chance to come and chop, you know they want a musical chair, when the music stops, they want to be the ones sitting. I am not part of them. And that is why the government is in collaboration with them, the ALP, the UP because I am not part of it,” he said.

He also decried how the merit system has broken down in the country, to the point where people want to know a leader or some people in charge of opportunities in order to access them. He said there has to be a proper merit system put in place such as excelling to positions of trust or accessing opportunities will be based on qualifications and quality of work.

Speaking on his corporate background, the ANC #1 partisan postulated on reasons why productivity is key in corporate organizations, which he said is not a magic formula because leaders in corporate structures set goals and objectives, organize the team, and put individuals in charge to achieve the target. He said the system punishes a defaulting staff for not achieving the set target and also rewards others for success, noting that such scenario can be replicated in public service.

He said things are not working in the public sector in the country because the government has not been able to set its target to achieve goals and objectives, and sourcing for the right people to do the job.

“Again, it boils down to competence and the merit system that has broken down in Liberia,” he said.

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