The Political Leader of the Alternative National Congress said the Weah Government has over the years failed to conduct the census.
Mr. Alexander Cummings said the conduct of the National Housing and Population Census is an important constitutional duty of the government, and a tool for economic planning and development.
He said the National Housing and Population Census helps the government to decide where to build schools, hospitals, markets or drill new wells.
“The result of the census, after every 10 years, shows how we will draw our constituencies so that in the House of Representatives, the members will represent the actual people living in a constituency”.
The ANC Political Leader spoke at a News Conference on Monday at his office in Monrovia saying, Conducting Elections without first conducting the census is not good for the country, it is not good for development, and will mean we will be violating the Constitution.
“If we do not do the census, the House of Representatives will be unconstitutional. If the House is unconstitutional, the Legislature will be unconstitutional. If the Legislature is unconstitutional, the government will be unconstitutional”.
Mr. Cummings narrated that he is consulting on legal ways to ensure that the Weah Government obeys the Constitution, and also appealed to the international community to help the Weah Government with technical support, if they need it, to conduct the census.
” We cannot emphasize this enough, not conducting the census before the elections will risk the constitutional legitimacy of the election in 2023 and its outcome”.
The ANC arrow Head is quoted as saying” many of you had heard me say that our country is too rich for Liberians to be so poor, I say it repeatedly because it is true. What is also true is that the lack of honest leadership in government combined with the mismanagement of the resources God has blessed our country to have, including giving it away cheaply and selfishly, are responsible for the sad reality of the poor living conditions too many Liberians continue to face daily”.
Mr. Cummings said if Liberians do not change, they will continue to be poor and beg other nations to do for them what they can and should be doing for themselves. “I know that many of you do not need me to tell you that things are bad in our country”.
He said the overall Development of Liberia should go across tribes, religions, and political parties, Liberians are living the sad reality of worsening economic hardships every day and everywhere in our country.
The ANC Political Leader added that From food to gas, and from hospital bills to rent, the cost of everything is going so high while incomes are going down, People cannot find jobs.
” In the last 5 years under President Weah, no serious investor has come to our country but they continue to pour into neighboring countries, including countries that have fought wars like us”.
Meanwhile, the ANC head told Reporters that President George Weah likes to excuse himself and his calls for the hardship in the country by blaming the opposition, however, the fact is that the Weah government has not behaved in any way for credible international investors to trust him and his government, to seriously consider investing in the country.
He said Serious and credible international investors need to trust that their investments will be protected, the government will respect the laws, and that the government will not be trying to steal from and cheat them.
“Too many international reports continue to confirm that our country is amongst the most corrupt in the world, serious investors have not forgotten that under President Weah, and for the first time in the history of our country, 11 foreign embassies, missions, and International organizations wrote the President to tell his government to stop taking their money without their permission that they were saving in the Central Bank.
The $16 billion, the $25 million mop up, the Global Fund, the Road Fund, and the Covid-19 relief fund, are all corrupt practices with no accountability.
“The stealing business in the government is too much. It is embarrassingly turning people away from coming to invest in our country, at a time when we need serious international investors to help us create jobs that will pay decent living wages to our people”.
