Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 28 September 2021:
Yesterday Monday, 27th September, I visited the victims of the recent Kroo Bay fire which occurred on 20th September, destroying 137 households and displacing almost 500 people. Sadly this is the latest of over 20 significant disasters to have afflicted Freetown in 2021; the majority of which are linked to poor urban planning, overpopulation, antiquated electrical distribution systems, and climate and hydro-meteorological hazards.
Due to its scale, response to the fire disaster at Kroobay is led by the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) as a Level 2 response. FCC’s Environmental Management committee, supported by the FCC Disaster Management Team, have been fully involved in supporting the coordination of the response, resulting in a major supply of food, non-food and WASH items to those most at need.
I witnessed first-hand both the gratitude of the recipients, but also the significant challenges faced by Freetown’s informal settlements every day.
I am pleased that with the support of a consortium of NGOs, FCC has made considerable progress in the development of a neighbourhood upgrading framework for the Cockle Bay and Kolleh Town informal settlements.
The successful implementation of these schemes within the next year will be a template that can be scaled up for bigger settlements like Kroo Bay.
Also yesterday, it was a great pleasure to visit FCC Metropolitan Police trainees at the Sierra Leone Peacekeeping and Law Enforcement Academy (SLEA) at Hastings.
Now in the 6th week of an 8 week programme, the 50 candidates are close to starting their new careers as Metropolitan Police officers at Freetown City Council. I was honoured to review the parade, conduct the inspection and address the candidates.
I am very grateful for the Sierra Leone Police’s support in facilitating the training and for the warm welcome I received from the Academy’s excellent staff.
As the first cohort of Metropolitan Police officers to be recruited and trained since 2010, this group will increase the Force’s capacity to monitor and enforce the City’s bylaws and to respond to residents’ concerns.
The reorganisation and expansion of the City’s Metropolitan police force is one of many measures to improve service delivery and quality of life for Freetonians, and reflects FCC’s continued commitment to Transform Freetown.
Our hands-on, result-orientated Mayor of Freetown has done again what she does best: deliver for the people of her great city.
And just a few days ago, she was thousands of miles away, delivering on an international stage and with supreme confidence and an all too obvious sense of practicality, an important speech on the biggest problem our planet faces and that threatens our very survival as a species: climate change.
How very admirable that she goes straight back to work on her return, displaying as ever the same practical, doer, go-getter mentality. A mentality that is evident in her very style of reporting: clear, precise, succinct, direct. This is a woman of action, a woman of substance, a born leader. She is definitely a president in the making.
Sometimes we Sierra Leoneans like to talk about development. We lament at the slow pace of development since 1960.we talk of lack of infrastructure projects, delivery of services, like health care , education, roads, electricity, housing, financial assistance to small and midume size businesses, micro credit finance for small startups, training for youths. And addressing the gender gap in our societies, where women and girls are treated like second class citizens . Promoting transparency and accountability, the ways some of this services are dilivered. But the only thing we lack is the willingness of our politicians to take on this issues head on. Not because we lack politicians like Mayor Akin Sawyer, someone that have practically proven by her record in Freetown city Council, that she can do the job, she knows thr problems and most importantly how to tackle them. She can do it with all her strength, determination, inclusion, above all else, point everyone to the benifets of working together for common good, not just for the few, but the majority.
If we set our political differences aside and lets say we give her the keys to state house for one term, the changes in our country’s fortune will be had to discribe.At the moment, She is the best head of state Sierra Leone have never had. And tbis is just not me saying it, her records both nationally and internationally speakes for itself. Sixty years after independence, and 11 years of civil war, due to unchecked corruption, have brought us nothing, but division. ,And unfortunately, politicians taking turns to bleed the country’s naturals resources dry for their own private use. Whilst the vast majority of the population lives on less than $2 dollars a day. Life expentacy for both men and women are falling Standard of living is falling. Burglaries and armed robberies are creeping up. Murders of young women are on the rise.
Are all those unfortunate incidents indicates the state as we know it have failed its peoples. Mayor Akin Sawyer will be the best trouble shooters president. Failing which the next APC /SLPP presidential candidate should choose her as their running mate. Is about time we elect a woman president or Vice president of our country. And no one else fits that bill tban Mayor Akin Sawyer. She ticks all the rights boxes.