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By Myean D Torgbean
Monrovia—In a blistering, emotionally charged response to President Joseph Boakai’s 2026 State of the Nation Address, former presidential contender Alexander B. Cummings has challenged the government’s narrative of recovery, asking a question that resonated far beyond Capitol Hill: Recovery for whom?
Speaking directly to “market women, students in the back rows, farmers in the rice swamps, and nurses in understaffed clinics,” Cummings painted a starkly different picture of Liberia—one where headline economic gains fail to translate into full stomachs, safe communities, or dignified work.
“Macroeconomic stability is not the same as microeconomic survival,” Cummings argued, pushing back against the President’s claims of growth and lower inflation. He cited Liberia’s grim ranking—112th out of 123 countries—on the Global Hunger Index, noting that nearly two in every five Liberians do not eat enough. “You cannot cook coal tar. You cannot feed a child a blueprint,” he said, invoking a popular street refrain to underscore the gap between government statistics and lived reality.
A Budget That Tells a Different Moral Story
At the center of Cummings’ critique was the government’s record US$1.2 billion national budget, hailed by the administration as a sign of progress. To Cummings, however, the budget exposes a moral failure.
“Liberia is still the ninth poorest country on earth,” he said, noting that more than 2.5 million Liberians cannot meet basic needs and that rural poverty stands at an estimated 80%. He questioned how a record budget could coexist with hospitals lacking gloves and schools without chalk.
Cummings singled out the Legislature’s US$51 million allocation and a 50% increase in the National Security Agency’s budget as symbols of elite excess, particularly at a time when expected windfalls—including a reported US$200 million ArcelorMittal signature bonus—have been absorbed into what he described as a “bloated system that funds the luxury lifestyles of the political class.”
His proposed alternative calls for caps on executive and legislative spending, a redirection of funds to health, education, and frontline security, and county-level budget transparency. “If a budget cannot be explained to a market woman,” he said, “it was not written for her.”
Farmers, Women, and Youth Left Behind
Despite the administration’s rhetoric placing agriculture at the heart of its development agenda, Cummings accused the government of undercutting farmers by slashing agricultural funding. He called for Liberia to meet the long-standing international benchmark of allocating 10% of the national budget to agriculture and to invest in processing facilities so farmers can earn profits rather than survive harvest to harvest.
Women, who own an estimated 55% of Liberia’s small businesses, also featured prominently in Cummings’ address. He highlighted their exclusion from formal banking and the persistent threat of sexual and gender-based violence. “A nation that cannot protect its daughters cannot claim to be recovering,” he said, calling for a national micro-loan scheme and faster prosecution of rape and abuse cases.
For Liberia’s youth, Cummings rejected short-term “hustle” programs as inadequate. He proposed a National Youth Service Program to place graduates in schools and clinics and a county-by-county expansion of technical and vocational training to prepare young people for real careers.
Decentralization Without Power Is an Illusion
While endorsing decentralization in principle, Cummings argued that counties remain financially dependent on Monrovia. He called for devolving real money—not just authority—to local governments, strengthening county service centers, and empowering communities to prioritize their own roads and clinics.
Energy access, he warned, remains another choke point. With most Liberians still living without reliable electricity, Cummings urged immediate investment in solar mini-grids for schools, clinics, and agro-processing facilities. “A nation cannot develop in darkness,” he said.
Corruption: More Than Indictments
Cummings saved some of his sharpest criticism for the government’s anti-corruption record. While the President cited 11 indictments, Cummings noted that only two convictions have been secured in two years. “Corruption is why there is no medicine in the clinics and no supplies in schools,” he said.
His alternative includes special anti-corruption courts, aggressive asset recovery, and fully autonomous integrity institutions with what he called “no protected species.”
A Direct Challenge to Power
In closing, Cummings echoed President Boakai’s own words that leadership is service—but added a sharper test: delivery. “If the economy is growing, the people should feel it. If the government is working, hunger should be falling,” he said.
Positioning his proposals as “The People’s Alternative,” Cummings framed the moment as a choice between elite comfort and mass dignity. “Liberia has the land, the resources, and the talent,” he declared. “What we have lacked is disciplined, competent, people-centered leadership.”
As the political temperature rises, his message lands as both a critique and a warning: recovery measured only in numbers may satisfy spreadsheets—but it will not satisfy a hungry nation.
