Monrovia – Ms. Charlyn Brumskine, the daughter of Cllr. Charles Walker Brumskine, has expressed how grateful she and rest of the family are to Liberians, who prayed for the recovery of their father.
In August 2019, the Liberty Party, which Cllr. Brumskine served as its Standard Bearer thrice, issued a statement in which it confirmed that their leader was ill. It added: “As the party seeks the special grace of God upon its founding father for healing, it makes a special request to all partisans and the general public to remember Cllr. Brumskine in their prayers.”
After nearly two months of battling whatever kept him down, Cllr. Brumskine, who is the political leader of the opposition Liberty Party, one of the four collaborating political parties, is back on his feet, thanks to God. He has still a long way to full recovery, according to his daughter.
Expressing how grateful she is, Charlyn recently wrote on Facebook: “On behalf of my mother, my brothers and the entire Brumskine family, I want to say a big, big ‘Thank you’ to all of you who lifted my father up in prayer during the past 2 months. Words cannot describe how grateful we are to you. I saw people from all over the world, especially my fellow Liberians, unite in prayer in a way that touched our family so deeply. We received messages, calls, texts, social media posts from Liberians from every corner of our country. We received prayers and messages of hope from the Highest Office in Government to people who I had never met before but only knew me on Facebook. I received messages of support from every religious group, every political party, every geographic area of our great nation. During one of the most difficult times in my life, I saw Liberians as I have always known us to be– compassionate, loving and unified in a common cause—prayer and support for one of our own. I have always believed in the greatness, love and compassion of the Liberian people. Also, I have always believed in the power of prayer. But because of each of you, through your actions, I was able to see the manifestation of the combined love of the Liberian people with the power of prayer. God is great! And for that we thank you.”
She further asked Liberians not to forget her father in their daily prayers.
“Please continue to pray oh. We still need all of the prayers. It has not been easy. We still have a long way to go. He still has a long road to full recovery. We love each of you so much. May God flood you with blessings beyond your imagination! Thank you.”
Cllr.
Brumskine, who has contested the Liberian presidency thrice, became politically
prominent in the 1990s as an ally of former President Charles Taylor. When
Taylor became President in 1997, Brumskine became President Pro Tempore of the
Senate.
By 1999, however, they began feuding, and Brumskine fled the country after
being threatened by Taylor’s supporters. He returned to Liberia in 2003 with
plans to run in the scheduled 2003 presidential election. However, Taylor’s
resignation that year and the installment of a two-year transitional government
led to the elections being cancelled.
In 2004, Brumskine campaigned for the 2005 elections, receiving nearly 14% of
the vote, six percent less than the second-place candidate, Ellen
Johnson-Sirleaf, and therefore he was not able to participate in the runoff.
Due to his popularity in the first round, he could have significantly
influenced the run-off had he endorsed either candidate. He decided not to
endorse Sirleaf or her opponent, George Weah in the runoff.
Six years later, Cllr. Brumskine again contested the 2011 elections. This time,
picking Bong County Senator Franklin Obed Siakor as his running mate.
In the 2017 elections, Cllr. Brumskine tallied 149,495 votes for 9.6 place
putting him in third.
At the end of the 2017 presidential elections, Cllr. Brumskine led the charge, protesting the results as the Supreme Court halted preparations for the presidential run-off vote between Weah and former Vice President Joseph Boakai until it considers a challenge to first round results by a losing candidate who alleged fraud.