IPNEWS: On Wednesday, August 3, 2022, Dr. Toga Gayewea McIntosh, a principal representative of the Liberia People Democratic Party (LPDP) on the ruling CDC’s governing council, to the bewilderment of members of the CDC, perhaps President Weah himself, endorsed the presidential bid of former Coca-Cola executive, and ANC political leader, Alexander Cummings.
“I support the Cummings’ ‘real change’ revolution,” Dr. Gayewea McIntosh said in a statement early this week.
Dr. McIntosh argued that Liberians overwhelmingly voted in 2017 for the CDC and particularly Mr. George Weah, with the hope he would have brought about the change they have long yearned for.
“Elections are far gone”, he said, and the “promised hope” for our people has become a “lost hope.”
Dr. McIntosh has however clarified that he is not parting company with the LPDP, a constituent political party of the ruling CDC, but as an individual, he has selected to support Cummings rather than President Weah, who will be seeking a second six-year term in 2023.
He said Liberia under the CDC administration is not proceeding in the change direction which was set forth in the coalition’s manifesto.
A onetime Foreign Minister of Liberia, Dr. McIntosh said his assessment of the presidential candidates shows that Mr. Alexander B. Cummings has most of all that it takes to serve adequately as the next president of Liberia to save the Country from what he says is the doldrums of the woes and depression that the Liberian people are experiencing the Weah’s administration
McIntosh said the footballing President has failed the Liberian people and is not worthy of being reelected. But Chief Cyril Allen, chairman emeritus of the former ruling National Patriotic Party, a constituent member of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change, has rebuked him and said McIntosh’s declaration of support to the Cumming presidential bid is a demotion for him.
The CDC-led government, according to Dr. McIntosh, lacks accountability and, as such, the country’s vast natural resources are not benefiting the majority of the people and the country in general.
With Cummings, he argued, the country will be in the hands of someone who brings to the table wealth of administrative and managerial experiences — a skill set needed to lift Liberians out of abject poverty and “take the country off the slope of underdevelopment.”
“Liberians were yearning for change and flocked behind the movement of [Weah’s] ‘Change for Hope’ [political mantra] during the campaign. They demonstrated their burning desire at the polls, registering a landslide victory for the CDC. Elections are far gone, and the promise has become a lost hope,” the former Foreign Minister emphasized.
He said now is the time for Liberians to experience real and positive change.
Dr. McIntosh became a member of President Weah’s coalition after a fallout with his party, the former ruling Unity Party in 2017, which he accused of flouting democratic principles when it decided to select former Vice President Joseph Boakai as the party’s standard bearer for that year’s election.
Political pundits have observed that while he may not necessarily be a typical vote-rich character, Dr. McIntosh is an individual who has circled the summit of public life as a seasoned technocrat and policy expert — a skill set that every politician needs.
He played a pivotal role in the crafting of former President Sirleaf’s Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) which was very ambitious and hailed as one of the best national plans in the history of Liberia. The current Pro-poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development of Weah is modeled after the PRS.
A former vice president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for four years, where he coordinated the work of 13 Commissioners that were engaged in overseeing development work for the 15 member countries in West Africa, McIntosh served in various technical, administrative, professional, and managerial positions for a total of 26 years — five of those years serving successively as Minister of Planning and Economic Affairs, and Minister of Foreign Affairs for Liberia.
He also served as Executive Director for two years, representing 22 African countries on the Board of the World Bank Group. He additionally worked for nearly ten years as a Senior Economic Officer at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), advising African governments and building senior-level staffing capacities for the better management of their development agendas.
Prior to his endorsement of Mr. Cummings, McIntosh earlier declined his nomination by President Weah to head the Governance Commission, noting that his decision was based on several factors, including the need to protect and uphold the Act that created the Governance Commission.
On Cummings, who he promised to campaign and vote for in 2023, McIntosh said that the politician has proven and shown the spirit of hard work, commitment to duty, and a clear vision to lead the charge for Liberia to recover all the lost years that the country has experienced.
“The future of our country is not buried in its past. Traveling the same road will never lead us to a new destination. Putting love of party over love for country will continue to see our country and our people suffer. To lift our country, and end the sufferings of our people, we must change. Change is hard, but continuing as we are doing to ourselves, or going backward, will only make our problems worse” McIntosh further noted.
