Tons of tributes continue to flood social media pages in Liberia following the death of Liberty Party funding political leader Cllr. Charles Walker Brumskine who died in the United states on Wednesday.
Cllr. Brumskine, who has been ill for months now, reportedly died at the John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland (USA). However, family sources and some of Brumskine’s friends, who confirmed news of his death on their respective facebook pages said he died at home.
Senator Nyonblee Lawrence confirmed on her face book page late Wednesday, that the LP leader had lost his fight to “stay alive”.
She described the fallen Liberty Party icon as a dedicated family man, lawyer and politician who will be missed by all.”
In October, his party, through the National Executive Committee confirmed that Mr. Brumskine had been flown to the United States of America for treatment.
“The Executive Committee of Liberty Party through the office of the Political leader, Senator Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence, informs its partisans, well-wishers and the general public that its former political leader and former Standard-Bearer, Cllr. Charles Walker Brumskine, is not well and is seeking medical treatment abroad. As the party seeks the special grace of God upon its founding father for healing, it makes a special request to all partisans and the general public to remember Cllr. Brumskine in their prayers.”
In October, Mr. Brumskine’s daughter, Charlene, in a Facebook post expressed thanks to all who had been praying for her father.
Charlene wrote:
“On behalf of my mother, my brothers and the entire Brumskine family, I want to say a big, big ‘Thank you’ to all of you who lifted my father up in prayer during the past 2 months. Words cannot describe how grateful we are to you. I saw people from all over the world, especially my fellow Liberians, unite in prayer in a way that touched our family so deeply. We received messages, calls, texts, social media posts from Liberians from every corner of our country. We received prayers and messages of hope from the Highest Office in Government to people who I had never met before but only knew me on Facebook. I received messages of support from every religious group, every political party, every geographic area of our great nation.
Abraham Darius Dillon writes:
“I was very devastated when my biological father Wilfred D. Dillon died 1989. I was so young then; I felt like life was meaningless already”. But God had his own plan and purpose. God blessed me and sent Cllrs. Theophilus C. Gould and Charles Walker Brumskine to change my story forever”.
“Eversince they touched my life, I have never been the same. There were times they were hard on me, and I thought they did not love me. I realised later they meant and wanted the best for me. Because of the mentorship of these great statesmen, I have become a better man to my family and a small asset to our nation. All glory to God!
“Cllr. T. C. Gould came along in 1995 and gave me life when he employed me at the Ministry of Justice. He mentored me. He became my father-figure. He motivated me. He made me to believe in myself. He exposed me to the nation”.
Then came Cllr. Charles Walker Brumskine in 2004 when we founded Liberty Party. Cllr. Brumskine taught me integrity and selflessness. He mentored me to be disciplined and courageous. He taught me love for country over self; he taught me to live with dignity. He taught us to prefer peace over war, and respect for the rule of law over violence. Yes, he was a mentor indeed!!
“They have passed the mentorship over to us, and we must uphold and carry on from where they left us. We should not fail them; they deserve to keep smiling, knowing that their labour and efforts were not in vain. “May their SOULS rest in peace – till we meet again”!
Elias Shoniyin writes:
“It is with deep sadness and profound sense of loss that I’ve heard of the death of Counselor Charles W. Brumskine”.
“He was a man of great civility, kindness, and modesty – with a strong sense of duty to country, family and God. At this time of burden and sorrow, I recall his endearing spirit of compassion and patriotism. He was indeed a good man and will be dearly missed.
“I pray that God will grant his family, the strength and fortitude, to endure this difficult period of loss”.
“The entire nation mourns it’s illustrious son”.
Who was Brumskine?
Cllr. Charles Walker Brumskine was born on 27 April 1951 and educated at the University of Liberia where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1973.
He then attended Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law where he was awarded a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1981 and passed the Liberian bar. The Liberian politican earned a Master of Laws degree from the Dedman School of Law at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas the following year.
He was the leader of the Liberty Party and came third in the 2005 presidential elections and 2017 The late Cllr. Brumskine challenged incumbent Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf for the Presidency in 2011. He was also the senior partner of Brumskine & Associates, a leading Liberian law firm.
Brumskine’s active politics
Brumskine became politically prominent in the 1990s as an ally of Charles Taylor. When Taylor became President in 1997, Brumskine became President pro tempore of the Senate.
By 1999, however, they began feuding and Brumskine fled the country after being threatened by Taylor’s supporters He returned to Liberia in 2003 with plans to run in the scheduled 2003 presidential election.
However, Taylor’s resignation that year and the installment of a two-year transitional government led to the elections being cancelled.
In 2004, Brumskine began campaigning for the 2005 presidential elections as a member of the Liberty Party. Like most of the other candidates, he promised to bring reconciliation to the country following its political turmoil, and improve the economy and infrastructure. What made him unique was the strong religious message in his campaign.
Ultimately, he received 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. Due to his popularity in the first round, he could have significantly influenced the run-off had he endorsed either candidate. He decided not to endorse Sirleaf or her opponent, George Weah, in the runoff.
In 2010, he announced his plans to challenge Sirleaf in the 2011 presidential election.
2017 Presidential election
Cllr. Brumskine in 2017 made his name when he and others to the National Elections commission took the Supreme Court of Liberia and called for the re-run of the entire first round of the general and presidential elections for irregularities. The Supreme Court later ruled that there no sufficient evidence to overturn the result first round of voting on October 10, 2017.
