MONROVIA – Few weeks ago Mr. Alexander B. Cummings, the political leader of the Alternative National Congress (ANC), was requested by health authority of the state to subject to quarantine on the suspicion of being infected with the COVID 19 having travelled to an area believed to be struggling with the virus outbreak.
While the imperative to comply with this public health order was a national duty, others who similarly had contact abroad with affected areas rejected quarantine order on the basis of their status and went into the crowd exposing the general population to hazardous health circumstances. We also witnessed how Mr. Cummings during quarantine was given unbecoming treatment by state security personnel by whom Mr. personal security detail was withdrawn from him, leaving him very vulnerable and only being kept protected by public hue and cry over the action and Mr. Cummings party’s (ANC) executives swift issuance of statement to alert the international partners to the situation.
Following this traumatic encounter, on yesterday, March 30, 2020, Mr. Cummings concluded his days of quarantine and was certificated and released to a scene of joy created by family an partisans who were worried by his being quarantined, and an appreciative larger public that was amazed by the self discipline and courage of Mr. Cummings to undergo such period of quarantine fraught with varied molestations from state security apparatus. As Mr. Cummings endured these humiliations from state security ensuing fro his submission to the need to respect public health in the face of a very contagious menace, the National Civil Society Union of Liberia (NACSUL) made two radio appearances to condemn the ruffian and unmannerly posture assumed by state security against Mr. Cummings. We further made attempt to assess the condition under which Mr. Cummings was being kept in order to be sure that he was not exposed to condition that could have caused him health problems but were prevented on health purported grounds.
Thus, today as Mr. Cummings has successfully ended his days in observed quarantine and has been certified as being unaffected by the COVID 19, the National Civil Society Union of Liberia (NACSUL) wishes to congratulate Mr. Cummings for his patriotic posture, patience and profound sensibility to the effect of the virus for which he admitted to quarantine unquestioningly. It is worth lauding that Mr. Cummings who commands a great political influence did not put up resistance that would have been buttressed by some sympathetic members of the public to the effect of avoiding quarantine, but willingly surrendered to health authority order, enduring the unanticipated accompanying humiliations.
We herein urge other politically high placed personalities to immolate the selfless respect for the public health protocol shown by Mr. Cummings in times like these when we are threatened by a catastrophic microbial agent that knows no status.
In continuity of our recognition of the deference for the public survival being demonstrated by Mr. Cummings during his first remarks post-quarantine, we find it important to applaud him for his generous gesture toward the most less fortunate community of our country especially that which is considerate of the orphans whose sources of survival now undergo pressure due to scarce humanitarian attention amid this virus outbreak. We call on other stakeholders but principally the requisite Government of Liberia’s agency responsible for this aspect of our population to put effective measures in place that seek to immediately address the increased hardship being experienced by these less fortunate fellow compatriots of ours.
Finally, we will like to once more reiterate our call on the Senate to reject the President Chairman designate Cllr. A. Ndubusi Nwanbudike of the NEC and urge him to replace this nominee with a better option that is representative of a consensus of every political interest in the country. The nominee Cllr. A. Ndubusi Nwanbudike during his hearing failed to prove his nationality as a Liberian and must not be confirmed. To this matter we will hope that the President will move with urgency and act to reduce the mounting tension being engendered tension being engendered by this controversial nominee of his.
By the same token we call on the Senate to similarly reject the President nominee Cllr. Edward Martin for the Liberia Anti Corruption Commission (LACC) on his failure to properly addressed issue surrounding his assets declaration and other constitutional matters of serious importance as it relates to his being in conflict with the regional balance requirement of the constitutional during his hearing. Whereas the position nominated for is a tenured one, in practice Cllr. Martin does not conform to the current term of office of the position, hence we strongly ask the Senate to equally reject him as the NEC’s chairman designate Cllr. A. Ndubusi Nwabudike.
Once more, we express our thanks and appreciation to Mr. Alexander B. Cummings for his respect for the rule of law and the selfless example he has set by patiently enduring his period of quarantine. Mr. Cummings gesture toward the orphans is laudable, and we plead that such must not be the end but the beginning.