Monrovia – The audience anxiously sat expecting Cllr. Charles Walker Brumskine in their community to dedicate their first constructed water hand pump.
Report by Henry Karmo – [email protected]
For some, it would have been their first encounter with the man who wants to replace President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as President of Liberia.
For over two hours, they sat patiently while the project implementers – the Brumskine Youth Movement encouraged them to remain unwearied and await the “man who has brought safe drinking water to their community”.
When the PA system announced the arrival of the Liberty Party political leader, the crowd was excited. Unfortunately for those eager to see their man, there was no politician – the astute Liberian lawyer – but his three children.
Charlyne, Charles and Walker Brumskine were there to represent their dad. Later the disappointment cleared the air. Perhaps, having three Brumskines were better than one – but others would have been fascinated by the presence of one of Liberia’s leading politician.
Charlyne, the eldest and only female, was later given the stage in the absence of her dad. She quickly told a gathering of potential electorates that she’s not a politician, but interestingly, she warned them about the antics of Liberian politicians.
“What I want to say to you is one think I know about being politician that is why I am not a politician,” she said.
“Because politician can lie; they don’t talk the truth and the reason they don’t talk the truth is that because they want you to vote for them.”
Lecturing about her truth-speaking attributes since she’s not a politician emphasized that truth sometimes hurt.
She again sounded a caveat: “Don’t vote Brumskine because he put water in your community. If you decide to vote him because he built pump in your community tomorrow someone else will build the same pump.”
“We need to change the way we think, 2017 could be our last chance – we either go in front or go behind.”
“Don’t allow the politicians fool you because the power is in your hand and if you decide that you are voting Brumskine or anybody else because they brought water you will stay long inside because that is the way that they just get you today.”
The daughter of the popular Liberian politician who continues to maintain a strong presence on the country’s political scene after two successive elections encouraged the audience to vote her father.
Charlyne’s argument is that her dad’s Liberty Party has the best platform which she named as “Reconciliation, Reconstruction, good health sector and quality and affordable education”.
She later continued to sensitize the community about their social benefits the government owes them.
“You don’t have to say thanks to government for bringing water into your community it is their responsibility.”
“If you want to vote Brumskine vote him because of his platform don’t vote him because of the water pump,” she said.
She believes in this age and time there is no reason people should be begging for clean drinking water.
“Like we said development is just getting started.”
“We come to you today not to talk too much politics but to dedicate a pump that will provide drinking water for residents of this community who have suffered for years,” she added.
Onesimus James, head of the Brumskine Youth Movement, a group behind the construction of the pump said the pump was the first of its kind in the community.
Frog Island Community is situated closed to the main Robertfield highways and James said children have died while crossing the road to fetch drinking water in the ELWA compound.