Ordinarily Mr. Alexander Benedict Cummings would have not craved for a program of such magnitude to have been organized in his honor due to his simple lifestyle and his preference to engage people without the fanfare and side attractions attached to it. He must have given it a reluctant acceptance just to have the will of his partisans and supporters to prevail, believing that refusing the gesture would have not gone down well with them. What he had thought to be a mere welcome from his partisans and well-wishers turned out to actually be a carnival which started from the Roberts International Airport (RIA) and terminated at the National Headquarters of the Liberty Party(LP). As early as 9 am on Wednesday, October 27, 2021, partisans and supporters of ANC have started gathering at RIA through various means of transportation, mainly in buses. At the airport, there were singing, dancing and shouts of battle cries up to the time of his arrival and sent the whole group into frenzy celebrations. For those who must have been thinking that Mr. Cummings may not have the numbers in Liberia, they will have to perish their thoughts that for a long time the reception he got has become the talk of the town as so many people turned out against expectation. What is so important about the composition of those who went there was the fact that the majority were youths who form a large percentage of the voting bloc in the country.
The Political Leader of the Alternative National Congress(ANC), who returned home to an unprecedented tumultuous welcome from the United States of America yesterday, Wednesday, October 27, 2021 where he had gone to hold discussions with major decision makers in government , private sector, public policy, advocacy, civil society as well as attending board meetings of corporate entities he works with in the United States and holding meetings with Liberians to explain the trending political issues in the country and what is needed to effect positive change back home, said he was done with the internally wrangling within the Collaborating Political Parties(CPP) while directing his energy to defeat President George Manneh Weah in 2023.
After the welcome formalities at the Roberts International Airport (RIA) where hundreds of his partisans, supporters and well-wishers have gone to welcome him and thanking them for the reception, Cummings and his party drove to town in a long convoy to participate in the formal program marking his return at the National Headquarters of the Liberty Party (LP).
The businessman turned politician in an appreciative speech thanked his partisans and supporters as well as his colleagues and members as well as supporters of the opposition Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) for turning out in their numbers to welcome him. He said the gesture is a manifestation of the unity, togetherness and cooperation existing within the CPP.
He spoke emphatically of ending the differences that exist within the collaboration and also promised to put his energy on redeeming the country from the grip of President George Manneh Weah whom he said has plunged the country into untold hardship and suffering.
“We are not going to waste any more time on the internal wrangling of the CPP, we will start to focus on the Liberian people. Please know that we are pledging our commitment to Liberia”, he said, adding “we will pledge our support to change Liberia for the benefit of Liberians”.
Energized and excited by the turn out, he told the mammoth crowd who had come from far and near, that as a Standard bearer vying to lead the Collaboration in 2023 and if he wins, he will ensure that the Weah-led government will account for every penny that has been stolen from the Liberian people. “We are not going to let the Weah-led government get away with the suffering you are facing today”, he said with a thunderous greeting from the gathering.
Cummings furthered that his party, the Alternative National Congress, is committed to making the CPP work while at the same time fighting for the cause of the Liberian people. “We are going to make sure that the system that has kept us down for 174 years, will be changed”, he said.
Mr. Cummings had his audience spellbound throughout his message, offering assurance and hope to a people that seem to have placed the belief of a working and functional society in what the opposition CPP is offering as against what is happening under the CDC led dispensation.
“Too many Liberians, old, young, men, women, Christians, Muslims, are suffering. The only way we can stop the suffering is to change the system. We know that the system is fighting back, but we remain determined until we can work together as a people and country to move forward”, he told the people.
Speaking to the people who had defied the scorching sun to attend the program, the ANC Standard Bearer said that his commitment to real change is non-negotiable and that with the ANC in CPP, “we will have real change in Liberia. We will stop the suffering and stealing in this country”, he added.
Earlier, welcoming Mr. Cummings and party to the Headquarters of the Liberty Party(LP), the Chairman of the party, Mr. Musa Hassan Bility said that ANC as a constituent party is welcome to hold program at the facility of the party and thanked partisans of ANC for orderly organizing themselves.
Mr. Bility noted that Mr. Cummings has brought quality leadership to the discourse and the ANC has distinguished itself and continues to do so. ”We welcome you and believe that the best candidate will emerge from the CPP knowing where the country has come from and where it is today, we believe that Liberians deserve a better future”, he stated. He urged Liberians to make decisions that will move the CPP forward.
Meanwhile the ANC issued a press release of an unfortunate incident involving its partisans and supporters along the RIA route, near Tower Hill when one of the vehicles carrying some of their partisans and supporters clashed with a truck but there was no report of fatalities.
The release said that those injured were taken to hospital for immediate and appropriate medical treatment and added that their prayers and thoughts are with those who were injured.
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