Addressing a news conference that attracted major stakeholders including EU, civil society, NEW and councillors on Saturday June 7th, 2025 at the Councils headquarters at Wallace Johnson Street in Freetown, Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr described the government’s proposed plan to divide Freetown into two cities as a “misguided decision,” given its ramifications on service delivery among other negative impacts.

“It will be detrimental to service delivery, thus put unnecessary additional burden on the people,” Mayor Sawyerr insisted, noting that her concern is not about how the issue will affect her personally neither is it about a political position, but how it will affect the coordination and service delivery that will undeniably hinder the improvement of people’s lives.

The Mayor claimed that the Council was not consulted or involved in the process, and that she only read about proposed plan from the social media, referring to the move as a complete mistake. “As the current Freetown City Mayor, I believe that the proposed division would have negative consequences for our vibrant city, a city founded in 1792, and one that is rich in history and culture,” the city mother fears.

She stressed that the plan to sub-divide Freetown into two cities and create two local councils does not address any of the challenges emanating from the failure to devolve key urban management mandates but will instead create additional management and coordination challenges. She said she believes what is required for Freetown to have improved service delivery is greater devolution to the City council and more consolidation and coordination in service planning rather than further disintegration. She added: “Best practice in urban management, particularly for a city as compact and densely populated as Freetown is to strengthen and not weaken comprehensive and integrated planning for service delivery.”

Mayor Sawyerr argued that the plan division will only disadvantage the more populated east with low revenue generation. She insisted that the plan will also increase the burden on the people and that her priority remains the improvement of their lives. She therefore called on the government to have a rethink to reverse its decision.