By Tommy Amara
Of all the Mayors and District Chairpersons, the Mayor of the Freetown City Council (FCC), Yvonne Aki-Sawyer, is the most harassed, victimized and vilified by the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP).
Ever since the SLPP came to power, Aki-Sawyer has been singled out for persecution and prosecution. The SLPP has tried every trick in their crooked books to get this woman with unblemished character stained or roped. She is the only head of a Local Council who has received persistent hostilities from the Local Government Minister and Government’s operatives. SLPP supporters have even tried to paint her as a tribalist for daring to speak some home truths!
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), which is the hidden arm of the SLPP, has also done everything in the sun to bring Aki-Sawyer down. But they too have not been able to bring down a good woman with a heart of gold. The ACC’s attempt at political blackmail was seen for the witch-hunt it really was.
With the ACC and Local Government Ministry’s inability to bring down Mayor Aki-Sawyer, the Sierra Leone Police are the latest pawn which the SLPP government has turned to in its chess game of persecution and prosecution of the FCC Mayor. The Police case against her, for “Obstruction of Justice” as laughable as it is, has already started on a comic note as it is full of inconsistencies.
What the first prosecution witness, Fanta Fofanah, is saying in open court is quite different from her original statement. When cross-examined by one of the defence counsels, Mohamed Pa Momoh Fofanah, she reveals how hopeless and pointless the police case against Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyer is.
(Watch this space for more)
