{"id":9228,"date":"2018-03-21T21:34:57","date_gmt":"2018-03-22T03:34:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nigerianews.ca\/?post_type=news&p=9228"},"modified":"2018-03-21T23:07:38","modified_gmt":"2018-03-22T05:07:38","slug":"freetown-elects-female-mayor","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/nigerianews.ca\/news\/freetown-elects-female-mayor\/","title":{"rendered":"Sierra Leone capital Freetown elects female mayor, the first since 1980"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sierra Leone capital, Freetown, has a new mayor in the person of Yvonne Aki Sawyerr. She won the position in recently held March 7 general elections.<\/p>\n

The Chartered Accountant thus becomes the first female mayor since 1977 \u2013 1980 when the position was held by one Dr June Holst-Roness.<\/p>\n

According to records from the National Electoral Commission (NEC<\/span>) Sawyerr who run on the ticket of the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC<\/span>) beat five other competitors (all men) to the seat.<\/p>\n

Her closest contender was candidate of the main opposition Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP<\/span>). She polled over 309,000 votes representing 59.92% of votes as against the SLPP<\/span>\u2019s Raymond Desouza George who got 167,200 (32.36%). The others shared the remaining votes.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/atejancole\/status\/975774581368729601<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cFreetonians this victory is for all of us. Thank you for believing in my vision and for giving me the honor to serve as your Mayor for the next four years. I look forward to working with all of you to make Freetown a city we are all proud of,\u201d she said after he election.<\/p>\n

She is a holder of the Order of the British Empire (OBE<\/span>) and was given a presidential medal for work she did on sensitization on the deadly ebola virus that ravaged the country years back. Her job is cut out foir a capital that recently as last year suffered a deadly landslide.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Her campaign website<\/a> said about her: \u201cYvonne is a finance professional with over 25 years of experience in strategic planning, risk management and project management in the public and private sectors.<\/p>\n

\u201cA team player with a demonstrable record of leading institutional change, Yvonne is passionate about the development of Sierra Leone.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is a Chartered Accountant and holds an MSc in Politics of the World Economy (London School of Economics) and a BSc Hons in Economics (Fourah Bay College). \u00a0She is married with two children.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Buck'ham Palace 2day 4 OBE. Glad 2 b with husband & kids who supported my year long absence during SL #ebola<\/a> fight pic.twitter.com\/IFYZAndj5P<\/a><\/p>\n

— Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr OBE (@yakisawyerr) April 22, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n