Even while still campaigning to take state power and assume the duty as the second democratically elected Vice President of Liberia, Cllr. Charlyne M. Brumskine, the running mate to the Standard Bearer of the Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) has been asserting herself as very able partner in the future presidency by articulating the policy depth under the CPP led government with emphasis on building a strong economy that will be “Liberian centered” as well promoting a gender sensitive society where the potential of women will be harnessed for their total involvement in leadership role in the country.
Speaking yesterday on the ELBC Bumper show, Cllr. Brumskine said Liberians should pay keen attention to issues-based conversations and debates going to the crucial October 10, 2023 general elections as it will be an “expensive error” if the citizens will sacrifice their future for the little or nothing they will receive from politicians with “zero work history, zero experience, zero integrity” and plunge the country into further despair.
The tough talking lawyer by profession whose understanding of politics have been amazing to many who have been following her since her entry into active national politics spent most of the time explaining about the manifesto of the CPP so as to give the citizens the opportunity to have an informed opinion of what the CPP intends to do when elected into power and praised canvassed support for Mr. Cummings whom she described as “a credible man with experience, international exposure, integrity and the political will to bring real change to Liberia.”
She said the CPP has taken a deeper look at the myriad of problems facing the country but nothing is there compelling right away than the economy which will drive the rest of sectors towards national development “but that could only be possible under a Cummings-Brumskine presidency because we have the track records and the connections”.
“A Cummings-Brumskine government will want to have a foreign policy that is tied to the pursuit of economic advancement of the country and its people. It will attract industries in Liberia to create more jobs, and when these companies come whatever agreements they sign, be it a concession or PPP, Liberians will be given priorities in terms of securing well paid jobs and that agreements on county development or benefits to local communities will be duly honored”
“Liberia must not be seen as a joke, Liberia must not be seen as a failed state that companies will come and exploit through corrupt government officials and leave the citizens to wallow in poverty in the midst of abundant natural resources”, she said.
Responding to a question why the Cummings-Brumskine ticket is paying a high premium on the economy and not the other sectors, Cllr. Brumskine said “the economy covers virtually everything; here we are talking about the resources of the country, how it should be utilized to benefit the people; we are talking about the productive capacity of the country; we are talking about how to raise money to fund development be it infrastructure like roads, hospitals, schools, electricity; we talking about money that we will use to pay salaries of government workers; we are talking about money to give our women and entrepreneurs to start businesses, and the list goes on”.
“And more importantly, this is the area or specialty of Mr. Cummings. His foundation is rooted in economics and finance. He has used his education and experience in this area to positively impact the growth and progress of the places he has worked over the years especially at the Coca Cola where he rose to the top level of the global company.
“That means among the rest of the other candidates, we are blessed to have such an icon that can manage our resources and change the development landscape of the country”, she said.
Asked why both of them are not using their international connections to bring in investments to solve the country’s economic problems, Cllr. Brumskine said indeed there are many companies and wealthy individuals Mr. Cummings is connected to “but none of them is willing to come here because of the business environment in the country, especially the level of corruption has been driving investors away since this government came to power”
“Definitely, Mr. Cummings has very many foreign companies and relationships with some wealthy Liberians abroad who have multimillion dollar businesses who are interested coming back here to invest but it is shameful that a lot of Liberians in the diaspora with all the capital and technical know-how to invest in the country don’t have the confidence to do so.
“The people are not willing to come here because they do have confidence in the present government though I do want to put it this way. They will not come here with what some of them have seen especially with the level of corruption”, she said.
She said conversations are underway with most of them to have a rethink once Mr. Cummings is elected President and urged Liberians to make the right decision on October 10, 2023 because a lot is at stake concerning the country’s future.
While underscoring the essence of attracting foreign investment into the country, she reminded Liberians that “we live in an ever growing global community where countries are getting more interdependent on one and another, we need more investment opportunities to come to Liberia, when you see Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana or Nigeria, they are not ascending or have ascended to top levels because they have done it on their own; they have strong bilateral partnerships with foreign companies”.
She said Mr. Cummings will make available USD20m in the first 100 days of his administration for Liberian entrepreneurs to set up their own businesses and grow others that have already started operations, adding the objective is to promote employment from the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as well as encouraging the implementation of the Liberianization policy.
She further said the government will consider the private sector as a strategic partner in driving the program on job and wealth creation and will adopt policies backed by the enabling legislations and laws to protect the sector so that it will play meaningful role in the economy.
Touching on what her expertise and experience as a lawyer brings to the table, she said her legal background will be key to driving the economic agenda of the government because no sound economic policy will be put in place or no meaningful progress can be made to attract foreign investment when there is no rule of law or a good judiciary system.
“So my expertise and experience will complement the efforts of Mr. Cummings to draw the economic blueprint of the country and put it in practice how it should be as well as assuring the foreign investors about our good legal system which is key to convincing any investor to bring in their money.
“I have worked with the previous government to draft legislations and other legal documents and provided pieces of advice on how to use rule of law to promote investment thereby encouraging foreign investment in the country”, she said confidently.
Cllr. Brumskine said her acceptance to serve as running mate to Mr. Cummings came at a great sacrifice to her initial pursuit of contesting for the District #3 representative position in her native Grand Bassa County “but it was worth opting for running mate position because I wanted to serve, not about personal title or honor”.
“It was a higher platform I was offered to be on the table and elevate women’s issues, issues that center around empowerment, their participation in political decision making because Liberia is fast losing out on gender equity.
“It has been scientifically proven that when women are in power, corruption tends to be minimized, issues like health care tend to be prioritized, job creation, agriculture, training , women empowerment, entrepreneurship are promoted”, she said.
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