Liberian leaders lack will and commitment

-Cummings

The Political Leader of the opposition Alternative National Congress or ANC party Mr. Alexander B. Cummings has attributed the problems of Liberia to lack of will and commitment from its leaders, including citizens in general.

Mr. Cummings, a presidential hopeful, narrated that if the voting population can make a genuine decision in the upcoming general and presidential elections by electing a focus leadership in 2017, the country can make a change.It is we Liberians that can better change this country; no foreigner, or developing partners will do this for us; it is left with us to make that decision in moving this country one step from where it has been situated over the past years.”

He spoke on Monday, 9 May in the Auditorium of the University of Liberia at the main campus on Capitol Hill when he met with students of the university.

“As I look at the distance from where this country has come I say to myself, we can do better; we deserve better, even if we have all of the Americans, Ghanaians, Chinese none of them can change this country for us; only citizens of this country can better change it through hard work, and other sacrifices”, the ANC leader emphasized.

He reminded students of the University of Liberia that they too have a great role in developing the country, adding that they are privileged, because many young people out there don’t have the opportunity to learn.

“My role as an aspirant is to work with every Liberian to build this country, because no one person can possibly change this country; all of us will have to work together collectively to put Liberia to where it needs to go.”

The former coca-cola executive said the solutions and ideas are right in Liberia and it just requires courage and willpower for implementation to transform Liberia to the next stage, advising that Liberians should not only focus on talking, because it will not help.

“This country can be so much different; we got human capital, the resources and many others; it is all about putting those pieces together in the right [perspective] that will change this country, and I strongly believe that together, we can do this.” The businessman-turned politician said he was not in politics to get the country’s money, rather, to serve.

He said, a true leader will always eat last, noting the importance of leaders eating last is whenever they eat last, they would have made sure everyone has finished with theirs, promising the Liberian people that if elected as President, he will provide the best leadership that will transform the country without saying how.

According to him, the presidency is the most impactful way to serve the country, adding “I also have a passion for education, and my area of priority is to focus on early childhood education; we must also focus on adult education as well, because almost 60% of our people are illiterate and that is something we need to focus on when we take power.”

However, he warns the electorates, “If you keep selecting the same leaders that failed this country all because of some political alignment, and want different result than it’s not going to work.” In response, the president of the University of Liberia Student Union or ULSU, Mr. Daniel T. Woart, stressed that the healthiness of any democracy is determined by the privacy of noise in such a democracy, but the noise of the people does not mean the welfare of the people are being met.

He said those are critical concerns that political analysts always care to talk about, and one critical concern that citizens usually talk about is government for the people, which has to with delivery of those basic services citizens need which include quality education, health care, fight against unemployment, and they make their decision through the ballot box.

Lewis S. Teh-Editing by Jonathan Browne