Former presidential candidate and Alternative National Congress (ANC) leader, Alexander B. Cummings, has come to the partial defense of President Joseph Boakai over mounting public criticism regarding the President’s use of private jets for international travel.
In a statement released Wednesday, Cummings acknowledged public discomfort over the optics of private travel during harsh economic times but urged Liberians to consider the practical and time-saving benefits such travel affords a sitting head of state.
“As someone who’s worked at a very senior level and managed private jets, I understand the value of time, especially for someone in charge of running a country,” Cummings said. “Spending over ten hours in airport lounges or dealing with layovers doesn’t make sense when that time could be used for the actual work of governing.”
Cummings highlighted that while shorter regional trips like Monrovia to Accra or Abidjan could reasonably be done via commercial flights, longer destinations, such as Abuja or New York, pose logistical challenges that make private travel more efficient.
The ANC leader’s remarks come amid growing scrutiny over President Boakai’s foreign travels, with critics accusing the administration of tone-deafness and misaligned priorities in a country where basic services remain inadequate and citizens continue to grapple with economic hardship.
Cummings, however, did not dismiss public concerns. “Liberia is still struggling. People are hurting… and seeing leaders fly private can feel like a slap in the face,” he admitted. He added that frustration around such expenditures might ease if citizens witnessed measurable progress in governance and service delivery.
“If Liberia was thriving, if people saw better services and job opportunities, nobody would be talking about how the president flies,” Cummings stated. He went further to suggest that in the long term, Liberia might benefit from owning an official government aircraft, citing cost-effectiveness and reliability.
“Ultimately, what matters most isn’t the flight, it’s the results,” he concluded. “Let’s keep our eyes on what really counts: performance, not just perception.”
President Boakai, for his part, echoed similar sentiments during a recent BBC interview, defending his occasional use of private jets as a matter of necessity, not luxury. The President argued that the demands of office require timely and secure travel arrangements that allow him to be effective on the global stage.
Still, the broader debate persists. Critics maintain that in a country with high unemployment, poor health infrastructure, and unpaid civil servants, private jet travel, regardless of its justification, risks deepening public mistrust.
The latest comments from Cummings may stir further discussion around governance, perception, and the balance between functionality and accountability in Liberia’s post-election political climate.
