Africa 24 news

Sierra Leoneans don’t get much income as compared to other residents in cities within sub-Saharan Africa.

Travellers from Sierra Leone have observed with both dismay and courage on the situation of housing concerns for Sierra Leoneans living in the capital and other bigger towns.

While Freetown’s rental costs have astronomically rocketed to millions of leones in recent times, cities in upcountry like Bo, Kenema, Makeni ,and Kono, are also increasing their housing rental fees. For example, we spoke to a private bank worker, Ibrahim Bangura and a market woman, their testimonies on housing accommodation are pretty shocking !

While the banker admits that he pays Le 6 million ( old leones) for a not-too decent room and palour at Savage Square, the market woman who conducts her business at Dove Cot, east of Freetown, says she and her out-of-job husband live in a two room and a parlour ( zinc house).

Fatmata Sesay ( a cassava tubers at Dove Cot) says they are paying up their landlord Le 11 million ( old leones).

“We used to pay for the place just Le 1,800,000 around 2014. But the landlord has been increasing the rent year-in-year out.”

“It’s really not easy for us; we have to feed our children under the economic bad times now in the country; we have to take care of our five children’s welfare needs and we have to responsible for their schooling,” says Fatmata.

Fatmata and her husband wish to see a system of government that could build them low-cost houses to rent per year.

The bank worker also grumbles about the inflationary, and skyrocketing trend in the country.

“It is eating up our little money we earn a month. We wish government fought off this bad economy,” he prayed.

“We are not paid like most other countries in the world, yet government can’t control the inflation which eats up all our meager salaries.”

However, on a different account, Sheik Ibrahim Khalil, a university lecturer ( Arabic) says Sierra  Leoneans are paying little rents as compared to other countries in the sub-region.

“Even as close as Senegal to us; house rents are very dear there as compared to the rents we pay per year in Sierra Leone.”

“What other residents in other cities in the world ( like Arab countries) are paying for just a month is what we are paying here as one year rent on a house.”