Even though she was declared winner of the tightly contested Mayoral election for Freetown, Yvonne Aki-Sawyer still believes that the results presented by the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL) was fraudulent.
The former Mayor was declared winner by Chief Electoral Commissioner Mohamed Konneh on Saturday, July 1, with 51.36 percent of vote cast, ahead of her main challenger, Mohamed Gento Kamara, who got 47.72 percent.
Aki-Sawyer claimed that she got far more than what the electoral commission data shows. Her own tally, she pointed out, shows that she got 66.5 percent, against Gento’s 32.7 percent.
“As someone who believe that the elections process is as important as its outcome, I had secured copies of more than 85 percent of Results and Reconciliation Forms (RRFs) from the polling stations in the Western Area Urban District,” she said in a statement released via her social media platforms.
Eight people contested for the Freetown Mayoral seat. It was perhaps the most tightly contested race in the 2023 general elections, after the presidency.
And like the presidential race, the mayoral contest was mainly between Aki-Sawyer’s main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) and Gento’s ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP).
Gento, a businessman, campaigned on the platform of fixing the city in a “practical and inclusive” way, while the incumbent pursued continuity with her “Transform Freetown” agenda.
As an opposition Mayor, the rivalry between APC and the SLPP-led central government sometimes affected their relationship to a point that it negatively impacted crucial development projects, as was seen in her botched tax reform policy.
Both sides accused each other of sabotage.
The election was an opportunity for the SLPP to do away with what it saw as an obstacle to its plans for the capital city.
The contest was so tense that it threatened the country’s decades old culture of religious tolerance.
Aki-Sawyer’s camp accused Gento of fanning religious division, after a video of him emerged online campaigning in a mosque.
Gento’s camp said the incumbent was pushing for an ethnic agenda that seeks to sideline non-Krio people. Her selection of a fellow Christian as running mate was also seen as going against a tradition of a Christian—Muslim ticket in previous elections.
The SLPP camp also said they wanted to put an end to a perception that the Freetown mayoral seat was for Krios (descendants of freed slaves).
As part of his concession statement on Saturday, Gento made reference to this, saying even through they lost, they still made an important point.
“We changed the conversation about who can vie for leadership positions in the city; we made it clear that everyone of us – Kontri (indigenous), Krio (descendants of freed slaves), Christian, Muslim belong in our local politics,” he said.
Despite her victory, it is uncertain whether Aki-Sawyer will assume office, given the boycott call of her party over the outcome of the presidential election results.
The APC earlier on Saturday called for a re-run of the elections, among several controversial demands, as condition to participate in the governance processes of the country.
