IPNews-Monrovia: The Liberty Party has officially confirmed Information late last night about the death of Counselor Charles Walker Brumskine, former standard bearer of the opposition Liberty Party and senior partner, of Brumskine & Associates, following a protracted illness, at the age of 69.
According to Grand Bassa County, Senator and LP political leader, Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence, in an interview with the Vocie of America, ‘Day Break Africa’, morning news programme, told the world that Liberia and the Liberty has lost a great Liberia, a vision bearer and a statesman.
Cllr. Brumskine, who has been ill for quite some time, reportedly died at the John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland (USA).
The report states that the late Cllr. Brumskine left the hospital about a month ago, and was being treated at his home in Virginia, USA, but died according after he was rushed back to the hospital when his condition worsened until doctors pronounced him dead late yesterday
Social Media late last evening carried condolence messages from political allies to his family which spark concern from the media including IPNews for a follow up.
Senator Karnga-Lawrence, added: “The LP founder, and former political leader has lost his fight to stay alive.” She described the late Brumskine as a “dedicated family man, lawyer and politician, who will be missed by all.”
The LP, through the National Executive Committee confirmed in October this year that Cllr. Brumskine was flown to the United States for treatment of a ‘cancer disease’ that afflicted him over the years.
“The LP Executive Committee, through the office of Senator Karnga-Lawrence, informs its partisans, well-wishers and the general public that its former political leader and former standard-bearer, Brumskine, is not well, but was seeking medical treatment abroad as the party seeks the special grace of God upon him.”
It may also be recalled, Cllr. Brumskine, contested the presidency thrice, came to political prominence in the 1990s as an ally of former President Charles Ghankay Taylor. When Taylor was elected President in 1997, Brumskine became President Pro Tempore of the Senate.
By 1999, he and Taylor fell apart following a feud to the point that Brumskine fled the country after being reportedly threatened by Taylor’s supporters.
He returned to Liberia in 2003 with plans to run in the scheduled 2003 presidential election, but that plan was aborted when the announced election was canceled.
In 2004, Brumskine campaigned for the 2005 elections, receiving nearly 14% of the vote; 6% less than the second-place candidate, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and therefore, he was not able to participate in the runoff that ended between Sirleaf and then UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador (now President) George Manneh Weah.
Due to his popularity in the first round, Brumskine could have significantly influenced the run-off had he endorsed either candidate. He decided not to endorse Sirleaf or her opponent, Mr. Weah, in the runoff.
Six years later, Cllr. Brumskine again contested the 2011 elections, this time with Bong County Senator Franklin Obed Siakor as his running mate.
In the 2017 elections, Cllr. Brumskine in his third attempt, with Mr. Harrison Sam Karnwea as his running mate, tallied 149,495 votes for 9.6 percent, putting him third in the race.
At the end of the 2017 presidential elections, Cllr. Brumskine led the charge, protesting the results as the Supreme Court halted preparations for the presidential run-off vote between Weah and former Vice President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, until it considered a challenge to the first round results by a losing candidate, who alleged fraud.
At the end of the litigation, many hailed his mastery of the law, though he remained the senior partner of Brumskine & Associates, a leading Liberian law firm.
Meanwhile, the Executive Committee, and partisans of the Liberty Party , will this morning meet at 9:00 A.M., to begin further funeral arrangements.
