Absent from Liberia’s political discourse is a monumental document, a declaration of dissent called Liberia’s Declaration of Independence.

On July 16, 1847, citizens of the Commonwealth of Liberia declared Liberia as Africa’s first republic. Yes, a republic – a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives.

Fast forward 169 years and it becomes crystal clear that the forgotten date of July 16th and the “declaration” consigned to oblivion by Liberia’s political elites is craving a resurrection from the dead.

On July 16, 2016 in Ganta, Nimba, ordinary citizens gathered for a resurrection ceremony. A “declaration” of sorts to reclaim their inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The reasons for a resurrection ceremony on July 16 are very similar to the original reasons for Liberia’s Declaration of Independence on July 16, 1847. In 2016, the curtain is closing on the reign of Liberia’s Nobel laureate president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Sirleaf has become a darling of western countries, but her reputation at home is best seen in her actions, not her accolades or her words.

UNMIL, the United Nations force that helped maintain the peace in Liberia, departed the scene in June 2016 and handed over security to the Liberian security sector.

Despite these changes, 98 percent of citizens in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, still lack access to the electricity grid, 85 percent of Liberians live on less than US$1.25 a day, and the education and health sectors are in crisis.

Yet, President Sirleaf still retains powers she and previous presidents usurped from citizens in the past. This includes the appointment of all mayors across the country as well as all chiefs, all governors of all political subdivisions, all heads of public corporations, all judges of the Supreme Court, all ministers of government and all presidents of government-sponsored universities as well as all paid board members of all public corporations.

The difficulties of life in Liberia are best illustrated by the number of offices where citizens can register a vehicle or get a driver’s licenses. Liberians in counties like Maryland and Sinoe must still leave their counties via treacherous roads to receive government services. Everything in Liberia operates at a snail’s pace punctuated by the intentional complexities of bureaucratic hurdles, created to extract money from citizens every step of the way.

Meanwhile, Senator Thomas Grupee of Nimba County, alarmed by the ritualistic killings of 17 in Nimba County, is singlehandedly calling for the reintroduction of capital punishment. No one has called attention to the incentives for the rising ritualistic killings across Liberia, the unjustifiably high salaries and benefits of Liberian politicians.

Liberia, the fourth poorest country in the world, relies on foreign aid from the international community. However, it’s mind boggling that Liberia’s western partners are mute about the ritualistic killings or the salaries and benefits of Liberian officials which are far higher than the those of the countries providing foreign aid, such as the United States.

For example, in California, a state with a US$247 billion dollar budget, senators are paid US$97,000 yearly. Compare that to Liberia, a war-ravaged foreign aid dependent country with US$555 million dollar budget which pays senators over US$100,000.

The state of affairs in Liberia is a disgrace to democracy and an insult to the generous donors and taxpayers in countries committed to unfettered foreign aid. If there were any justifications for the resurrection of the forgotten Liberian citizens’ declaration of dissent, officially named Liberia’s Declaration of Independence, the politically motivated killing of a five-year-old girl and 17 others in Nimba County alone ought to be a wakeup call for immediately overhauling Liberia’s current corrupt and toxic political system.

The system is broken beyond redemption. Election of a new crop of politicians to manage the corrupt system is unnecessary and serves no democratic no purpose. Just as the citizens of the Commonwealth of Liberia saw it fit to abandon the land of their birth in the United States and create a new system, now is the time for a new system where citizens hold supreme power, consistent with Article One of the Liberian Constitution.

Citizens, not politicians, must determine the salaries of their public servants. Through ballot initiatives, citizens must make laws for the greater common good, without the permission or approval of the president or the national legislature.

Only then will the lives of five-year-old girls be sacred.

Only then will Liberia emerge as a true model of democracy with a government of the people by the people and for the people.

A text of the Liberian Declaration of Independence can be found here.