Sierra Leone capital Freetown elects female mayor, the first since 1980

Sierra Leone capital, Freetown, has a new mayor in the person of Yvonne Aki Sawyerr. She won the position in recently held March 7 general elections.

The Chartered Accountant thus becomes the first female mayor since 1977 – 1980 when the position was held by one Dr June Holst-Roness.

According to records from the National Electoral Commission (NEC) Sawyerr who run on the ticket of the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) beat five other competitors (all men) to the seat.

Her closest contender was candidate of the main opposition Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP). She polled over 309,000 votes representing 59.92% of votes as against the SLPP’s Raymond Desouza George who got 167,200 (32.36%). The others shared the remaining votes.

#Freetown gets its first female mayor since Dr June Holst-Roness (1977-1980). yakisawyerr of ruling his APC was elected with almost 60% of valid votes cast. Wishing her a successful tenure. #SierraLeone Sierradecides #votesalone pic.twitter.com/XahViDUZ65

— Abdul Tejan-Cole (@atejancole) March 19, 2018

“Freetonians this victory is for all of us. Thank you for believing in my vision and for giving me the honor to serve as your Mayor for the next four years. I look forward to working with all of you to make Freetown a city we are all proud of,” she said after he election.

She is a holder of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and was given a presidential medal for work she did on sensitization on the deadly ebola virus that ravaged the country years back. Her job is cut out foir a capital that recently as last year suffered a deadly landslide.

Her campaign website said about her: “Yvonne is a finance professional with over 25 years of experience in strategic planning, risk management and project management in the public and private sectors.

“A team player with a demonstrable record of leading institutional change, Yvonne is passionate about the development of Sierra Leone.

“She is a Chartered Accountant and holds an MSc in Politics of the World Economy (London School of Economics) and a BSc Hons in Economics (Fourah Bay College). She is married with two children.”

Buck'ham Palace 2day 4 OBE. Glad 2 b with husband & kids who supported my year long absence during SL #ebola fight pic.twitter.com/IFYZAndj5P

— Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr (@yakisawyerr) April 22, 2016