Monrovia – Mr. Charles Walker Brumskine, political leader of the opposition Liberty Party and senior partner of Brumskine & Associates, has died. He was 68.
Mr. Brumskine who has been ailing for quite some time, spent some time at John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. Family sources confirmed to FPA that Mr. Brumskine left the hospital months ago and was being treated at his home in Virginia, he was pronounced dead Wednesday afternoon.
Senator Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence, the political leader of the party since Mr. Brumskine stepped aside following the 2017 presidential elections, confirmed to FPA Wednesday, that the LP leader had lost his fight to stay alive.
Fighting back tears, Senator Lawrence described the fallen Liberty Party icon as a dedicated family man, lawyer and politician who will be missed by all.”
In October, his party, through the National Executive Committee confirmed that Mr. Brumskine had been flown to the United States of America for treatment. “The Executive Committee of Liberty Party through the office of the Political leader, Senator Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence, informs its partisans, well-wishers and the general public that its former political leader and former Standard-Bearer, Cllr. Charles Walker Brumskine, is not well and is seeking medical treatment abroad. 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.”
In October, Mr. Brumskine’s daughter, Charlene, in a Facebook post expressed thanks to all who had been praying for her father.
Charlene wrote:
“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.”
Cllr. Brumskine, who 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, 6% 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 Manney 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.
Although he was successful, many hailed his mastery of the law. He remains the senior partner of Brumskine & Associates, a leading Liberian law firm.