-At CPP rally
Thousands of Liberians have stood up in support of an opposition-led rally against President George Manneh Weah's regime which is accused of causing hardship in the country.
The Opposition Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) led by presidential hopeful Alexander B. Cummings rallied outside the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex Saturday, 17 December 2022.
The CPP is made up of Mr. Cummings' Alternative National Congress (ANC) and a faction of the opposition Liberty Party (LP) which is loyal to embattled chairman Musa Bility.
The opposition bloc led thousands of disenchanted Liberians, including aggrieved former supporters of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) in the rally dubbed 'We Tiya [tired] Suffering.'
They vowed to unseat President Weah democratically through the ballot during the presidential and legislative elections due in October 2023.
The rally, according to the opposition, was aimed at drawing global attention to the alleged deliberate harsh suffering Liberians are undergoing.
They are holding President Weah and his CDC regime responsible for the hardship.
The CPP argued that the rally was essentially a clarion call against the increased spate of poverty, economic hardship, corruption, and insecurity, among other things.
The opposition claimed that it has raised red flags against these conditions, but President Weah has allegedly failed to address them.
The CPP also accused President Weah and the CDC of gross incompetence and an unprecedented display of impunity.
Mobilized by the CPP, Liberians themselves, including disenchanted former supporters of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), some indigenous Liberians, the cross-border Women Association of Liberia, the Tailor and Seamstress Union of Liberia, few disabled people, Market Women, the National Community Leadership Association, former CDC Royal Guards, and Civil society groupings, among others, demanded that the government tackles the root causes of poverty.
They demanded that the government tackle abuses, rape, and socioeconomic instability - through the levers of good governance,
moving ahead to the 2023 presidential election.
Others at the rally were Mr. Cummings, alongside his wife, Madam Theresa Cummings, and Amb. Lewis Brown, the rally chief organizer, and former Information Minister.
Also in attendance were former Montserrado County Senatorial Candidate Sheikh Al-Mustapha Kouyateh, CPP Secretary General Martin Saye Kullah, Liberty Party Chairman, Musa Hassan Bility, and other leading opposition figures.
Rally participants held placards in their hands, singing and dancing to a song by a popular Liberian musician Jonathan Koffa, alias, Takun J, which is titled 'they lied to us.'
The turnout was relatively lower than previous protests against the government, despite huge mobilization.
But the CPP said the rally was successful, not just about the turnout, but because it sent out the required message that Liberians are suffering under the leadership of President Weah.
Speaking at the rally, the opposition leaders took turns to lambast the CDC-led Government, saying that President Weah has failed Liberians in all ramifications.
Amb. Lewis Brown, speaking at the rally, said Liberians braved the threats of violence, intimidation, and fears from their government to stand up for a cause.
Brown said too many in the country are suffering, and too many are going to bed hungry, and can not afford a job to pay their children's school fees and house rent.
He said others are dying in hospitals because of no money, and corruption is raging high, while others are enriching themselves.
Amb. Brown claimed that President Weah has proven his incompetency as a leader and has miserably failed the Liberian people.
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On the issue of low turnout at the rally, Amb. Brown explained that the good thing about the rally is that it has sent out the message and Liberians themselves have spoken out their grieves.
For his part, CPP standard bearer Alexander B. Cummings told the crowd, mainly CPP supporters, that the rally would mark the end of CDC impunity in the country.
According to him, it will send a message to President Weah that Liberians are tired of suffering, and the mismanagement of the country's resources.
He said the rally will send a message that Liberians are unable to pay their children's school fees, lack job opportunities, and are being manhandled in their own country.
In addition, he said if elected President in 2023, he will restore good governance to Liberia, under a governed rule of law where every Liberian is equal and will equally benefit from the country's natural resources.
