She told AYV that people had lost confidence in the council to deliver services and they returned the favor by not paying their taxes because they are not convinced that their monies would be used to provide much-needed social services for them. She added however that the situation is unfortunate because when they do not pay taxes, the FCC will find it very difficult to deliver social services.

According to Mayor Aki-Sawyerr, staff of FCC as well as elected councilors should break this norm by being the first to pay their taxes and then sensitizing them on the importance of paying taxes and that the under the New Direction, all taxes would go towards providing much-needed social service delivery. She added that she has instructed the setting up of prudent checks and balances within the FCC to ensure that all taxes are adequately accounted for and used accordingly for the purposes meant for.

“We will ensure that our sensitization on the importance of paying taxes and the benefits to be derived thereof are is taken down to the least grassroots Freetown citizen for them to know what amount in the form of taxes came into the FCC and what they should expect in the form of projects and programmes that benefit the city.