Former Mayor of Freetown, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, has in a letter written to citizens bade farewell to the people of Freetown, thanking them for having trust on her to head the city for 5 years.
Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr said: “Dear Freetonians, pursuant to a letter from the Minister of Local Government dated 8th February 2023 instructing all mayors, chairpersons and councillors to vacate the local councils on 1st March 2023, I write to inform you that my tenure as Mayor of Freetown has ended.
“This directive is in contravention of Section 137 of the Local Government Act 2022 which provides for local councils to be dissolved at the earlier of the dissolution of Parliament on 25th April, 2023 or the fifth anniversary of the first council sitting on 30th May, 2023.
“I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to serve Freetonians and to embark with you on our collective journey to #TransformFreetown. Yesterday, in a Press Conference at the Freetown City Council, I presented the Transform Freetown Four Year Report which details our interventions and progress made between January 2022 and January 2023. A copy of the report is attached and copies of the First Year, Second Year and Third Year Transform Freetown Reports can be accessed here https://fcc.gov.sl. I am excited about our achievements over the course of my tenure in spite of the many challenges encountered by me personally and by the Freetown City Council as an institution.
“#TransformFreetown is about transforming lives and yesterday I was grateful to receive surprise visits and gifts from ordinary Freetonians, market women and street sweepers, who gave moving testimonies about the 1000s of jobs created during my tenure and their own experiences of personal economic empowerment, growth and development.
“Yesterday afternoon was spent in a fun-filled farewell event with the FCC Staff during which I handed over to Chief Administrator Festus Kallay the 3 decorative mayoral chains as a symbol of the authority of the office of the mayor. It was wonderful to use that opportunity to inform FCC staff that after over 3 years of working on this, the FCC salary harmonisation process had finally been completed and a transparent system of salary bands that objectively reflect qualifications, experience and length of service was being implemented for all staff from February 2023.
“Thanks must also go to the APC party and particularly to Former President HE Ernest Bai Koroma for entrusting the APC Mayoral symbol to me in 2018. I am grateful to the APC not only for the symbol but also for their support throughout my tenure.
“#TransformFreetown is a collective action so my deepest thanks are extended the FCC Councillors and Staff, members of the Mayors Delivery Unit (past and present), to our development partners both in country and abroad, to the central government and most of all to Freetonians.
“I leave office today grateful to have had the opportunity to serve, to impact lives, raise awareness about climate change and design and implement interventions to address this major risk and other challenges in our city, and to develop and embed systems and processes at the Freetown City Council that provide a foundation for sustainable development”.
The former mayor wished Freetonians and all Sierra Leoneans a peaceful and democratic 24th June, 2023 elections and a bright and prosperous future for the city and nation.
