MONROVIA-The political leader of the Alternative National Congress, Mr. Alexander B. Cummings, has said it is time to stop the culture of impunity in the country. He made the call over the weekend in a special statement issued.
“We must stop the stealing in government. We must stop the looting of our country. We must stop the killing of innocent people. We must end impunity for crimes. We must become a more just and safer society,” he said.
He added: “I feel very strongly about this, and I know that we can do it. Placing individuals above the law, and not holding each other fully accountable for crimes, are practices that have kept us backward for far too long. This is why I support the establishment of a war crimes court, and a court on economic crimes.”
Mr. Cummings did not give names of anyone that is involve in stealing or doing things with impunity.
But added: “Once again, the careless and irresponsible attitude of the Liberian Government is being exposed. Under this George Weah-led Government, Liberia continues to be internationally disgraced, shamed and laughed at.”
He said, giving people justice and ending impunity are not issues over which any responsible government ought to wait to be publicly chastised by its international partners. These are things responsible governments do to cleanse the soul of a nation, and to keep countries secure, stable and peaceful.”
However, he said, “it is hard to stop stealing in government when the people who should be stopping the stealing, and setting the good examples by not stealing, are actually the rogues. It is also hard to punish anyone for crimes, however bad, when the leaders are looking for special favors from the criminals, or are themselves, benefiting from the crimes.
Whether it is done by Presidents or Ministers – whether it is done by a friend, opposition, or relative – stealing from the people is wrong. We cannot continue to pretend that one day, stealing in government will stop by itself. We have to stop it ourselves, because as we continue to see, it is keeping too many of our people poor.
Whether it is done by warlords or presidents, killing innocent people, mysteriously or in the name of war, is also wrong. To stop it, we must investigate seriously and punish anyone involved.”
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