Episode 17 – Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr: A Record of Delivery Against All Odds
By Dr Doma
Some people keep asking, “What has Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr really done as Mayor?”
The truth is, most of the people asking are not even delegates not the ones who will be voting.
They want to silence a woman who has proven herself to be diligent, fit for purpose and ready for leadership.
But APC delegates, let us speak honestly: for the past seven years, Yvonne has delivered for Freetown in ways no one can deny and she has done it under some of the toughest conditions any opposition mayor has faced.
From the very start, she laid out a clear vision for the city through the Transform Freetown plan.
This was not about making empty promises but about setting real, measurable targets better sanitation, more housing, youth jobs, cleaner streets.
Every year she published results so that people could hold her accountable.
That is leadership and when her first plan ended, she rolled out a new one, aiming even higher: creating over a hundred thousand jobs for women and young people, growing tourism and building a digital economy for the future.
In a city where many had given up on change, Yvonne brought hope.
She made Freetown greener by planting 1,250,000 trees with a solid survival rate of 82%, tracked through a digital monitoring system.
That number speaks for itself and she’s aiming to plant an additional 300,000 more.
We must admit, however, that because of the actions and inactions of the Ministry of Lands, the rate of deforestation has outpaced the Mayor’s reforestation efforts.
Still, the work she began remains a bold and visionary step for the future.
She introduced simple but powerful ideas like mirror-roofs made from recycled plastic that cool down homes in slum communities.
She built the city’s first wastewater treatment plant, protecting health and the environment.
The wastewater facility was another critical intervention under her administration. The Mayor also publicly revealed that Freetown City Council (FCC) had secured $20 million in funding for a new waste management and treatment facility in the east end, but the project was later withdrawn due to the lack of support from the Bio government.
She made this disclosure during a live radio programme in early August 2025, where she emphasized how such setbacks have hindered sustainemphasised development in the city.
Even with little money and no real support from central government, she still delivered on infrastructure.
She built the Wilberforce Market Complex so traders could work in dignity.
She put perimeter walls around cemeteries so our sacred places would be respected.
She supported schools, building new classrooms and even a new school in Kroo Bay with a computer lab for the children.
She brought clean water closer to the people with solar-powered kiosks run by women entrepreneurs, and she gave water filter kits to schools and health centers so children andcentrests would not suffer from unsafe drinking water.
Importantly too, under her watch, Freetown saw the construction of over 7.7 km of drainage systems in vulnerable communities, drastically improving flood protection and community resilience.
To keep the city running, she modernized the way Freetown collects property rates, increasing revenue and giving council the ability to do more for the people.
She even looked to the future of transport, completing a study for a cable car system that could one day ease the suffering of commuters.
And in the health sector, she secured funding for the establishment of a post-graduate gynecology school, ensuring that Sierra Leone can train more specialists locally to save the lives of mothers and children.
All this, APC delegates, she achieved while facing constant obstruction, harassment and deliberate frustration from the current administration.
Budgets were withheld, her powers were reduced and yet she never stopped working for the people of Freetown.
That is the mark of a leader when you can deliver against all odds.
It is no secret that she has been recognized across the world, winning accolades, being named among the most influential leaders globally.
But for us in Sierra Leone, the recognition that matters most is from the people who have seen her work with their own eyes.
So when people ask, “What has Yvonne done?” the real question for APC delegates should be, “If she can do all this with limited support, imagine what she could do with the full backing of her party.”
This is why, brothers and sisters, this decision is not just politics as usual. It is about performance, resilience, and vision. Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr has shown that she can deliver transformation in Freetown. Now is the time to imagine what she can deliver for Sierra Leone.
Because truly, APC delegates, this is bigger than politics.
And let it be clear: these are only highlights of her achievements, not the full list.
