Cummings and Weah’s political camps dance together in Minnesota as Liberia’s 2029 race takes shape

BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. — The song was familiar to supporters of Alexander B. Cummings. So was the political message behind it.

But the scene unfolding on the dance floor at Edinburgh USA Clubhouse on Saturday night was something few might have imagined during Liberia’s last presidential election.

As “Who Y’all Want?,” a campaign song from Cummings’ unsuccessful 2023 presidential bid, filled the banquet hall, the opposition leader found himself dancing face to face with Success A.B. Dennis, chairman of the United States branch of former President George Weah’s Congress for Democratic Change.

Dennis, wearing a blue CDC sash, danced enthusiastically as supporters formed a circle around the two men, waving scarves and cheering them on.

For a few minutes, the political divisions that had separated their camps appeared to dissolve into music and celebration.

But the dance was not a declaration of an electoral alliance.

“We haven’t decided that yet,” Cummings told Mshale in a one-on-one interview, discussing a cooperation agreement reached by opposition parties in Liberia. “So what we established was a framework for cooperating to hold the current government accountable. So it is not an electoral coalition yet. It may evolve to that.”

The distinction matters as Liberia’s political opposition begins maneuvering toward the 2029 presidential election, with Cummings and Weah among the figures whose ambitions could determine whether the parties unite or compete against one another.

For Cummings, who has made no secret of his intention to seek the presidency again, the weekend gathering in Brooklyn Park was an opportunity to rally supporters, rebuild a political organization bruised by electoral defeat and make the case that Liberia’s future requires a different kind of leadership.

“I’m running for president,” he told Mshale.

A nearly full house

The Saturday banquet was the centerpiece of the Alternative National Congress’ diaspora convention, which brought supporters and party officials to the Twin Cities for a series of meetings and events.

Cummings’ visit began with a Thursday economic forum at the Brooklyn Park Small Business Center, an event added after the convention’s original program was circulated. The ANC diaspora convention continued Friday and Saturday, culminating in an evening fundraising banquet and ball at Edinburgh USA Clubhouse.

Although the banquet was scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., the formal program did not get underway until approximately 8:15 p.m.

By then, the room was nearly full. Of approximately 226 seats counted in the banquet hall, fewer than eight appeared unoccupied.

Cummings made his entrance accompanied by women dressed in elegant lappa suits and grand boubous as “Liberia Will Rise Up” played over the sound system.

The evening blended politics with the familiar atmosphere of a Liberian community celebration. Guests exchanged greetings, posed for photographs and gathered around tables before a buffet dinner. Cummings joined the buffet line and served himself.

Between speeches, the DJ repeatedly returned to “Money Na Water,” by Liberian musician King Dennis.

But beneath the music and festivities was the serious business of rebuilding a political movement.

The ANC entered the convention still confronting the consequences of the 2023 election, when Cummings finished fifth in the first round of Liberia’s presidential race, receiving 29,613 votes, or 1.61% of the total. He did not advance to the runoff.

The defeat was particularly difficult for supporters who had invested time, money and personal hopes in his candidacy.

Rebuilding after defeat

For Magdalene Menyongar, a Maple Grove resident who works as a hospital technician, the ANC has become more than a political organization.

Menyongar, who served as an acting global diaspora chair during the party’s formative organizing, said she became involved after years of disappointment with Liberia’s political direction following the country’s civil war.

She traveled to Georgia to meet Cummings and later made trips to Liberia to register and cast her ballot in the 2023 election.

The loss left some supporters discouraged, she said, but she believes the party cannot afford to retreat.

“You don’t give up. If you give up, then you lose,” she said.

Speaking at the banquet, Menyongar urged party members to reconnect with supporters who had become inactive after the election.

“We need to get our members that are sitting back, back on the train,” she said.

Her appeal extended beyond electoral politics.

“Liberia is our heart. Liberia is where we want to retire,” she told the gathering.

That sentiment helps explain why a political convention thousands of miles from Monrovia could draw such strong interest in a Minneapolis suburb.

For many Liberian immigrants, the country’s political and economic future remains inseparable from their own plans, investments and families.

Benedict Brown, a New Hope resident who works in insurance and employee benefits, arrived at the banquet wearing a tan suit and matching hat.

Brown, who described himself as a supporter rather than necessarily a party member, said he had followed ANC activities for about five years, participating in virtual meetings and attending conventions in California and North Carolina.

He came to Brooklyn Park looking for a clearer path forward.

“I’m expecting to hear, you know, a way forward,” he said.

Brown favors opposition cooperation and hopes Cummings ultimately emerges as a unified presidential candidate. But he also recognized that such an agreement has not been reached.

“We don’t have a coalition yet,” he said.

In a follow-up message after the banquet, Brown said Cummings had emphasized his intention to run again and appealed for financial and moral support from Liberians abroad. He said the opposition leader also encouraged members to reconnect with supporters demoralized by the 2023 loss.

The political weight of the diaspora

Dr. Emmanuel George, the ANC’s global diaspora chairman, said the party’s American organization has nearly 1,500 members spread across four regions.

The eastern region is headquartered in Rhode Island, the southern region in North Carolina, the Midwest in Minnesota and the western region in California.

Members pay annual dues of $120, according to George.

He said diaspora supporters raised more than $1 million during the 2023 election cycle, although Mshale could not independently verify that figure.

George also described a renewed fundraising effort this year, including a virtual campaign that he said brought in more than $50,000 toward a $100,000 goal.

Money is only one part of the challenge.

George said the party lacked representatives at some polling places during the 2023 election, an organizational weakness he believes must be addressed before Cummings makes another presidential run.

The convention offered an opportunity to strengthen that network.

During Saturday’s banquet, fundraising QR codes were displayed to encourage contributions. A Birth Month Queen Contest raised $7,600, according to Ernest Harmon, the ANC diaspora’s assistant financial vice chair, who confirmed the figure in a follow-up telephone interview.

The party did not provide a total for banquet ticket sales or overall proceeds from the gathering.

For an organization trying to recover from defeat, however, the event served another purpose: demonstrating that its supporters had not disappeared.

A message about business and opportunity

Cummings’ political argument is closely tied to his experience in the corporate world.

A former Coca-Cola executive, he has long presented private-sector development, investment and job creation as central to his vision for Liberia.

Those themes dominated Thursday’s economic forum at the Brooklyn Park Small Business Center, where he fielded questions about access to credit, government bureaucracy, corruption and the difficulties of building businesses in Liberia.

He discussed the importance of sound financial management and opportunities in agriculture, tourism, housing and local manufacturing.

He also raised the possibility of a professionally managed diaspora investment fund, while making clear that such a fund had not been established.

After the forum, Wynfred Russell, a Minnesota-based supporter involved in organizing the visit, took Cummings on a tour of the Small Business Center, showing him coworking areas and retail spaces intended to support entrepreneurs.

At Thursday’s forum, Cummings acknowledged that corruption was a problem in both Liberia and Kenya. But he argued that the difference lay in how businesses were treated before they had a chance to establish themselves.

He returned to the point during Saturday’s banquet, recounting the experience of a Liberian entrepreneur who, he said, abandoned plans for an agricultural business in Liberia and instead invested in Kenya.

“In Kenya, they would let the calf become a cow before they milk it; in Liberia we will try to milk the calf,” Cummings said.

The analogy captured his argument that Liberia’s business environment discourages investment by imposing demands on entrepreneurs before their ventures have had an opportunity to grow.

Cummings also acknowledged the responsibilities of Liberians living abroad.

While urging diaspora members to invest their money and expertise in their homeland, he said some returnees must also change their own behavior and respect the rules they expect governments to enforce.

“Unfortunately, diasporas get to the airport and their behaviors change,” he told Mshale.

His message to the gathering was that Liberians possess the entrepreneurial ability to transform their country but need institutions that make investment and opportunity possible.

The Weah question

The most politically revealing moment of the banquet came when representatives of Weah’s CDC joined the ANC gathering.

Dennis, the CDC’s U.S. chairman, told the audience that Weah had personally asked him to attend the ANC convention on his behalf. His presence underscored the emerging cooperation between opposition parties seeking to challenge President Joseph Boakai’s Unity Party administration.

On Sept. 27, Cummings and Weah joined leaders of three other opposition parties in signing a cooperation agreement in Monrovia. The agreement brought together the ANC, Weah’s CDC, the Movement for Economic Empowerment, the Movement for Progressive Change and the Union of Liberian Democrats Party.

The parties agreed to coordinate their efforts to hold President Joseph Boakai’s administration accountable while retaining their separate political identities. They stopped short of forming an electoral alliance for 2029.

Cummings reinforced that distinction in his interview with Mshale, describing the agreement as a framework for building trust and working together on issues of national concern.

He said the parties could consider supporting a single presidential candidate closer to the 2029 election, depending on how their cooperation develops.

The caution reflects lessons from Liberia’s previous opposition alliances, including the Collaborating Political Parties arrangement that fractured before the 2023 election.

“Don’t formalize it too early because things can change, interests can change,” Cummings said.

He believes cooperation must be tested before the parties make binding electoral commitments.

That leaves a significant question unresolved: If both Cummings and Weah seek the presidency, which one would step aside?

For now, neither the opposition framework nor the convivial atmosphere in Brooklyn Park answers that question.

The dance between Cummings and Dennis was therefore striking precisely because of what it did — and did not — signify.

As supporters cheered to Cummings’ old campaign anthem, representatives of rival political organizations celebrated together.

But their shared opposition to the current government has not yet settled their competing ambitions.

Remembering Bennie Perkins

Amid the political speeches and fundraising appeals, the convention also paused for a more personal remembrance.

Cummings paid tribute to Bennie Perkins, a longtime supporter and senior adviser who had died before the gathering.

He described Perkins as a loyal friend who had stood by him during his political journey and asked the audience to observe a moment of silence.

Perkins’ influence extended beyond the party’s leadership.

Sayan Shar Konneh, a Brooklyn Park resident who works in a nursing home, said Perkins had introduced her to the ANC.

Konneh, who has lived in the United States for about 21 years, is not a party member. Her husband, Kayfa Konneh, lives in Liberia and supports the ANC.

She attended the banquet with hopes that Liberia might one day offer greater opportunities for young people, including those growing up abroad.

“We have a lot of kids here, some of them do not want to go home,” she said.

For Konneh, the stakes go beyond whether Cummings wins the presidency.

She wants Liberia to become a country that children of immigrants can visit with pride, share with their friends and perhaps someday consider home.

The road to 2029

Cummings spent part of his banquet address urging supporters to make sacrifices for the political work ahead.

He appealed for financial contributions, stronger organizing and renewed engagement with those who had grown disappointed after the previous election.

He also challenged party members to acknowledge mistakes and reach out to people who had drifted away.

The task is formidable.

Cummings must persuade voters in Liberia that his business experience offers a credible alternative to the country’s established political leadership. He must rebuild an organization that struggled in the last election and navigate a complicated relationship with other opposition figures, including a former president with ambitions of his own.

And he must convince Liberians abroad that another investment of their time, money and hopes will be worthwhile.

For one evening in Brooklyn Park, the music, dancing and crowded banquet hall offered evidence that the ANC still has an engaged diaspora constituency.

Whether that enthusiasm can be translated into electoral strength in Liberia remains an open question.

For Konneh, who listened to the speeches and watched the celebrations, the measure of success is larger than any one candidate.

“It’s not about Mr. Cummings,” she said. “It’s about Liberia.”

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading...