Freetown, Sierra Leone – Mayor of Freetown, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, has paid a somber visit to a grieving family in the New England community who lost four relatives in the recent flooding disaster that struck parts of the city.
The Mayor used the moment of grief to highlight the urgent need for land use planning and stronger building controls in Freetown, warning that without decisive action, such tragedies will continue.
The visit followed Wednesday’s heavy rains, which resulted in deadly flash floods and landslides in several communities. Among the victims was a one-year-old girl, Ramatu, whose body has yet to be found, along with her grandmother and two young cousins aged two and eight. They were all swept away when water surged through the Col Wata community, where precarious hillside construction and poor drainage make flooding a constant threat.
Mayor Aki-Sawyerr, visibly moved during the visit, expressed frustration over the continued absence of a structured approach to urban planning in the capital.
She described the Col Wata settlement—perched on steep slopes and lacking road access—as emblematic of a much wider crisis in Freetown’s urban development.
“Over 55% of our city’s built environment is unplanned,” the Mayor stated in a reflective message shared on social media. “No roads, no drainage, no designated spaces for essential services. Construction is largely unregulated—people build what they want, where they want, often with deadly consequences.”
The Mayor recounted her first visit to the community, noting the absence of road access, waste management services, and safe construction standards.
She emphasized that these conditions are not unique to Col Wata but reflect systemic failures that expose residents to disasters during the rainy season.
In a broader critique of current governance structures, Mayor Aki-Sawyerr pointed to the lack of devolution of land management responsibilities to local councils.
She stressed that critical functions such as land use planning, development control, and the issuance of building permits remain centralized under the Ministry of Lands—leaving city councils with limited ability to manage urban growth or enforce safety standards.
“For seven years, I have advocated for these mandates to be devolved to local councils,” she said. “Without this shift, we cannot properly address the root causes of our city’s vulnerability to floods and landslides.”
The Mayor linked the disaster in Freetown to the growing global threat posed by climate change. Citing recent flood-related tragedies in countries like Pakistan, China, India, and Brazil, she warned that extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense due to environmental degradation and human-induced climate breakdown.
Locally, deforestation—especially of hillside vegetation and mangroves—is exacerbating the problem.
“We are losing our green cover faster than we are restoring it,” she said, referencing the #FreetownTheTreeTown initiative launched under her administration to plant trees and increase resilience to climate risks.
She also called attention to the practice of “banking”—filling in wetlands and coastal areas to build structures—which she said undermines slope stability and destroys natural flood defenses. This, she warned, not only increases flood risk but also leaves homes and lives in danger.
While the Freetown City Council continues its annual flood mitigation work under the #DortiMusGo campaign, the Mayor stressed that such efforts are only short-term solutions. “These activities are important, but they won’t fix the underlying issues. What we need is comprehensive land use reform.”
Mayor Aki-Sawyerr urged Parliament to pass the land reform bill currently under consideration, which includes provisions for devolving land use planning and development control to local authorities.
She also called on the central government to ease the strain on Freetown by decentralizing services and creating job opportunities in other parts of the country.
“The 2018 government promise of building one factory in each district would be a good place to start,” she noted. “We must reduce the pressure on Freetown by creating viable alternatives across Sierra Leone.”
As the city grapples with the aftermath of the latest disaster, the Mayor’s message was clear: the lives lost must serve as a wake-up call.
“We can and must do better,” she said. “To honor those we’ve lost and protect those still at risk, we must act urgently to build a safer, more sustainable future for Freetown.”
