Cummings speaks on corruption

The opposition Alternative National Congress or ANC leader Alexander B. Cummings, Jr. says only God Almighty can provide a good leader for Liberia. Mr. Cummings said citizens should not consider any political leader as a savior, unless God helps such person to transform the nation.

According to a press statement issued in Monrovia over the weekend, the former corporate administrator-turned politician made the remark when he addressed dozens of pastors and church leaders at the ongoing 2016 National Pastoral Conference at the Providence Baptist Church on Broad Street.

Speaking of corruption, which has become endemic in both the public and private sectors, he said an ANC-led government under his administration intends to institute measures to deal with the menace, vowing to prosecute officials that will be linked to corrupt practices, as well as introduce sustainable technological systems that will keep track of national financial records at various institutions of government.

“We intend to ensure that officials found to be corrupt, face the consequences of their actions through the court system. People think they can do anything wrong and get away…and say this is Liberia. But we have to stop that!”; Cummings stressed.

He added that government, institutions and citizens should all endeavor to fight corruption, as it has entrenched in every sector of the society, indicating further that givers of bribes are as equally corrupt as receivers and both should be punished.

In his interactive address to the congregation on a wide range of policy issues, Mr. Cummings reminded the Church of its crucial role in cleaning up Liberia’s vices that hinder the progress of the country and its people. He called on the Church to lead by good examples that will influence the behavior of citizens to enable them join the transformation process of the country.

When asked about his plan to improve trade and the “Liberianization policy, he noted, “We would provide finances to Liberian businesses and protect them with the reliance that they will, in return, give to their communities as a way of contributing to national development.”

Cummings added that while Liberian businesses would be given priority under his Administration, the country is equally committed to respecting some international treaties which she is member of, including the World Trade Organization or W.T.O.

The pastoral conference is under the banner Cor Unum (One Heart) with theme: “Righteousness Exalts a Nation” from the text Proverb 14:35. Earlier, in a communication written to the ANC leader, organizers of the conference noted that among the more than twenty political parties in Liberia, the ANC was chosen among seven parties to address the forum.

Mr. Alexander Benedict Cummings is a retired Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of Coca-Cola Company, venturing into national politics for the first time.

-Editing by Jonathan Browne