The last Mid-Term Census, conducted by the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), showed that the population of the capital, Freetown, reduced by over 30% whilst that of Kenema District, in the east, increased by over 50%. Yet, the SLPP government is proposing to split Freetown into two cities leaving Kenema District intact.
But majority of Freetown residents have described the proposed division of Freetown as not only absurd but are angry at the attempted “gerrymandering” which the SLPP government believes, if implemented, will give them a seat in a city which has traditionally been administered by the main opposition, the All People’s Congress (APC).
Last Saturday 7 June 2025, the Freetown City Council (FCC) held a press conference that was chaired by Deputy Mayor, Kweku Lisk Esq., with several councillors in attendance at the FCC’s Wallace-Johnson Street headquarters.
During the press conference, Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr reaffirmed the Freetown City Council’s firm opposition to the central government’s recent proposal to divide the capital into two cities with two local councils.
She noted that, “As I emphasised in my Open Letter to the Honourable Minister of Local Government and Community Affairs, such a move poses serious risks to the social cohesion, economic stability, and administrative integrity of Freetown. The challenges that Freetown faces are in fact principally rooted in the current fragmentation of urban management mandates. Significantly, under the mandate of the Ministry of Lands, there is no land use planning and the building permits regime is ineffective, which has a knock on effect on access, sanitation and street scapes”.
Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr continued that, “Our primary focus as the Freetown City Council is to address the challenges of and improve service delivery to the residents of Freetown. The proposed division of our city into two cities will do neither. We encourage all Freetonians to participate in this ongoing important conversation about the future of our beloved city”.
Those who made statements at the press conference were the civil rights advocate and CHRDI CEO Abdul M. Fatorma; Claude Bhamee Davies Esq the PRO of the Lawyers Society of Sierra Leone; Rev James Lahai of the National Elections Watch (NEW); Hon. Ben Mansaray, representing the APC Parliamentary Caucus; prominent member of the Krio Descendants’ Union Cassandra Garber and President of the Krio Community Samuel Valcarcel Esq. They all voiced shared concerns about the government’s lack of inclusive consultation and the absence of evidence-based data justification for the proposed restructuring.