Freetown, Sierra Leone – The Freetown City Council (FCC) has resumed the collection of dead bodies left on the city’s streets after six unattended corpses were reported across the capital.
Mayor of Freetown, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, said the move was taken in the interest of public health and human dignity, despite the council lacking a legal mandate under the *Local Government Act 2022* to handle such matters.
“MLGCA has not responded with details for the appropriate authority to collect corpses. There are currently six corpses on our streets.
Although FCC does not have this mandate, we will today resume collections in the interest of dignity and public health,” the Mayor stated in a post shared on social media.
She explained that the council’s action is temporary, pending official guidance from the Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs (MLGCA) on which body should be responsible for managing corpses found in public areas.
“Our intervention is only to protect the public and ensure the deceased are treated respectfully,” Mayor Aki-Sawyerr added. “We will continue until the government clarifies who should take over this responsibility.”
The situation has highlighted a growing administrative challenge in Freetown’s public health response system. FCC has urged the Ministry to provide clear contact details for reporting similar incidents in the future to avoid further delays.
The discovery of six corpses left unattended has raised concerns among residents about the city’s ability to respond to emergencies involving deaths in public spaces. The council’s swift response, however, aims to prevent potential health hazards and preserve public decency.
