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By Yvonne Aki- Sawyer On Wednesday 15th October 2025 a team of five Presidential Advisors, led by Prof Alpha Wurie, engaged myself, Deputy Mayor Kweku Lisk Esq and a cross section of Councilors on the evolution of the plans presented by the Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs at the Public Consultation held at Freetown City Council on 18th September 2025. Prof Wurie explained that the proposed plans were now for the creation of three (3) Borough Councils which would be headed by Mayors voted from amongst the elected Councillors in each Borough Council; there would be a Lord Mayor over the whole of Freetown. The reason given for the creation of these Borough Councils was to improve service delivery. During what was a very constructive engagement with the Presidential Advisors, I pointed out that the creation of the Borough Councils would in fact negatively impact service delivery due to increased coordination requirements, the loss of economies of scale and the diversion of limited funds from the delivery of services to the staff and operating costs of running 3 additional Borough (Local) Council offices. I referred the Presidential Advisors to the attached FAQs document which is as relevant to plans to create 3 Borough Councils with 3 Mayors under a single Lord Mayor, as it is to the plans to create 3 separate Local Councils with 3 individual Mayors. Government policy decisions should always be guided by data and analysis. The proposed plan to divide Freetown into three (3) Borough Councils appears not to be supported by any data, robust research or analysis. In December 2018, the World Bank published and presented to the Government of Sierra Leone a study entitled “Freetown Urban Sector Review: Options for Growth and Resilience” (https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/994221549486063300/pdf/127039-REVISED-PUBLIC2-14-19-Freetown-Report-Final-web2.pdf). This publication was informed by in-depth consultations with relevant MDAs, Freetown City Council, Freetown residents, development partners and other stakeholders, and extensive empirical and academic research into the challenges that Freetown faces. The publication proffered evidence based recommendations for addressing Freetown’s challenges. In the chapter “How to unlock opportunities [in Freetown]” the recommendations provided in the publication were: (I) reform land use and invest in infrastructure to manage density; (II) strengthen city finances and invest in city capability; and (III) clarify planning mandates and build-in resilience into urban strategy. With the introduction of the digitized property rate and business license systems in 2020, Freetown City Council has made progress on (II) above. The leadership and collaboration of the Central Government is required for the successful implementation of recommendations (I) and (III). The creation of 3 Borough Councils or additional Local Councils in Freetown are counter intuitive to the recommendations of the World Bank Freetown Urban Sector Review, a detailed analytical study of the challenges with service delivery and hazards in Freetown. Finally, the sentiment of Freetonians have been expressed in the attached survey poll undertaken by IGR. “Only 32% of Freetown residents say they have heard of the government’s plan to divide the city into multiple municipal administrative units. Of the nearly one-third of residents who have heard of the plan, a significant majority (62%) disagree or strongly disagree with the government’s proposal to divide the city into multiple municipal management units.” I respectfully urge the Government to listen to the voices of Freetonians, to revisit the detailed studies undertaken and recommendations made by the World Bank and other institutions in respect of addressing the challenges of Freetown, and to adopt policies that are informed by data and robust analysis. Improving service delivery in Freetown requires effective decentralization, resourced devolution of urban management functions from the Central Government to Freetown City Council, not the division of Freetown! #SaveFreetown
