Freetown City Council is the municipal government of the city of Freetown,[6][7] the capital of Sierra Leone. It was established in 1893 and is one of the oldest municipal governments in Africa.[6] The Freetown City Hall, located on Wallace-Johnson Street, is the meeting place and seat of government of the Freetown City Council.[8]
Freetown City Council | |
|---|---|
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
New session started | May 2018 |
| Leadership | |
The Mayor/Head of Freetown City Council | |
The Deputy Mayor/Head of Freetown City Council | |
Chief Administrator of the Freetown City Council | Festus Kallay |
Finance Officer of the Freetown City Council | Madina Bah |
| Structure | |
Length of term | 4 years |
| Authority | Local Government Act, 2004[2][3][4] |
| Elections | |
Last election | March 7, 2018 |
Next election | 2022 |
| Meeting place | |
| Freetown City Hall[5] Freetown, Sierra Leone | |
The city of Freetown is politically divided into three regions: East End Freetown, Central Freetown and the West End of Freetown, which are subdivided into wards. Members of the Freetown city council, including the mayor, are directly elected every four years by the residents of Freetown and they represent different wards throughout the city.
Members of the Freetown City Councils are known as councillors, except the deputy mayor and the mayor, in whom local executive power is vested within the city of Freetown. The City Council, including the mayor, are responsible for the general management of the city of Freetown. The mayor carry out laws pass by the city council. The Freetown City Council is noted for having its own municipal police forces. The current mayor of Freetown is Her Worship Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr OBE of the All People's Congress (APC).
All appointed members by the mayor must be approved by the Freetown City Council before taking office. Since its founding to present, virtually all mayors of Freetown are members of the Creole ethnic group. Freetown City Council politics has been dominated by the All People's Congress party (APC).
The Freetown City Council is one of the most powerful municipal government in Africa. its powers include, but not limited to:
- Collect local taxes[9]
- Responsible for city cleaning and trash collection[10]
- Has its own municipal police force[11]
- Control streets and petty trading[12]
- Issue of business license to shop owners and petty traders[13][14]
- Monitor Motorcycle and bike riders
- Remove abandon vehicles off the streets[15]
- In charge of cemeteries in Freetown[16]
- Supervises and inspect restaurants and local shops
References edit
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Supplement to the Sierra Leone Gazette Extraodinary Vol. CXXXV, No. 14" (PDF). Retrieved 23 April 2023.
- ^ "Local Councils: A pivotal but disappointing role in Sierra Leone's socio-political and economic development debate - feature-stories -".
- ^ "OSIWA". Archived from the original on 14 November 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
- ^ "Ambassador Kuang Visits Freetown City Hall".
- ^ a b Wyse, Akintola J. G. (1 January 1987). "The Dissolution of Freetown City Council in 1926: A Negative Example of Political Apprenticeship in Colonial Sierra Leone". Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. 57 (4): 422–438. doi:10.2307/1159892. JSTOR 1159892. S2CID 144482758.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Mayor Gibson Wants Freetown to Look Like a Real City! « Africa Young Voices (AYV)". Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
- ^ "In Sierra Leone, 140 Metropolitan Police Officers pass out". Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
- ^ "Sierra Leone: Police Blames City Council, Petty Traders, Others". Retrieved 23 April 2023.
- ^ "Freetown City Council to enforce payment of municipal licenses | Sierra Express Media". Archived from the original on 21 September 2011. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
- ^ Alhassan Bah (13 January 2009). "FCC Increases Shop License Fee". allAfrica. Freetown. Concord Times. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
- ^ "Travel Blog". Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
- ^ Margai, Joseph S. "Those unprotected cemeteries in Freetown! – Sierra Express Media". sierraexpressmedia.com. Adeyemi Paul. Retrieved 2 April 2017.