The former president of Sierra Leone Football Association, Isha Johansen has reminded Sierra Leoneans that the Mayor of Freetown, Yvonne Aki-Sawyer was elected by Freetonians and sabotaging Her agenda will not be tolerated.

Isha Johansen made the statement on her Facebook page in which she informed Sierra Leoneans that Her Worship Yvonne Aki-Sawyer is locally and internationally respected because of her hard work and integrity. She informed the people that are trying to sabotage the #TransformFreetown agenda of the mayor. Efforts to sabotage the TransformFreetown agenda and to malign the mayor’s reputation will not be tolerated by Freetonians! She added.

In recent months, the FCC sanitation system has faced severe challenges that are sabotaging past results and ongoing effectiveness of the #TansformFreetown agenda because the Chief Administrator, Festus Kallay refused to sign cheques and other relevant documents.

The tricycle groups that sweep 105 streets daily have not been paid for June because the CA has refused to sign their payments. (Their payments are approved by a resolution of Council and are included in FCC’s budget)

With FCDO (formerly DFID) funding, FCC constructed 6 Transfer Stations across Freetown that will be used by the tricycle groups to deposit waste. This will allow the tricycles to collect more waste in a shorter time because they won’t have to travel long distances to empty their carts. It will also prevent the frequent damage and breakdowns currently experienced by the tricycles when they empty their carts at the Kissy and Kingtom dumpsites which have very muddy, uneven and hazardous surfaces.

The Transfer Stations were officially handed over to FCC two months ago but remain closed. The CA has blocked the process of procuring the equipment (6 tractors and trailers) required to operate the Transfer Stations. He has reportedly claimed that he knows nothing about the Transfer Stations which is not true as he has been involved from the very beginning, including leading meetings with Ministry of Works and Ministry of Lands to secure project sites in 2019, sending the City Engineer to represent FCC in the CRS procurement panel that selected the contractor for the works, participating in internal meetings with other core staff, Sanitation committee Councillors and MDU members in which the operating model for the Transfer Stations was agreed.

The Transfer Stations are now being vandalized because the CA has also prevented the hiring of security as was previously agreed. The deliberate prevention of the Transfer Station operations means the tricycles groups can collect waste from fewer households, which increases the risk of illegal dumping.

The Ministry of Local Govt refused to grant a duty waiver for 3 sanitation vehicles (a compactor, bull dozer and front end loader) donated to FCC by the Japanese Govt and urgently required for our work. FCC applied for the duty waiver in February and it was not granted until June after the diplomatic intervention of the Minister of Planning. Following that the CA has been very slow in the execution of relevant documents so the vehicles are still at the ports incurring demurrage costs.

World Bank funding was secured for a televised “Sanitation Hour” program to sensitize residents about changing behavior and following the FCC bylaws. The program has been jeopardized because the CA has refused to sign the cheques for the panelists since April. The cheques have been signed by the Mayor and the Finance Officer in accordance with the terms of the World Bank funding.

FCC has noted that EDSA, SALCAB and SLRA dig the roads and pavements for utility works and then leave the debris and dirt on the roads. The Mayor asked the CA to engage these MDAs since January but he took no action. The Mayor has herself written to these organizations in March (EDSA) and again in June (all of them) asking for them to remove the dirt and for their future cooperation and collaboration. None of her letters were responded to.

Cheques signed in April in Favour of media houses to provide media time for propagating FCC’s messages remain with the Finance Officer and have not been collected by the IEC for distribution and implementation.

FCC has successfully implemented flood mitigation activities over the past 3 years with funding from donors in 2018 and 2020 and with funding from RMFA in 2019. RMFA funding for FCC was included in its 2021 budget. FCC wrote to RMFA in May with the detailed Flood Mitigation implementation plans requesting that the FCC funding be urgently released to avoid flooding. There was also a constructive meeting with RMFA at which they agreed to write to MOF for the funds to be released. Although FCC, and the Mayor herself have made many follow up calls, the funds have not been released.

The smooth operation of FCC’s sanitation vehicle fleet is key to ensuring that the garbage is collected in markets daily. Because of the age of some of the fleet and the heavy use, there are frequent breakdowns. As the fleet is growing, FCC a month ago identified an electronic fleet management system that will ensure better management of repairs, fuel consumption and driver performance. The CA did not participate in the meetings with the fleet management system providers (he has not joined any meetings with the Mayor for over 2 months) and has frustrated the process of securing the fleet management system which other relevant core staff believe is key to improving our sanitation service delivery efficiency.

The Cleanest Zone Competition is a key intervention designed to positively influence good behavior. The suspension of FCC’s property rates collection in 2020 drastically reduced FCC’s income and making it impossible for the prizes for the 2019 competition to be delivered as FCC did not have the money. This was a major disappointment to the winning communities, eroding the value of the behavior change process.

Additionally, the winning prize for 2018 Cleanest Zone Competition has still not been delivered. The contractor was paid over Le450m and when he didn’t deliver, the Mayor reported the matter to the police and the contractor was arrested. The next day the CA went to Central Police and secured the release of the contractor claiming that the materials would be given to FCC. To date the contractor has not given anything at all to FCC and the CA has made no attempts to follow up despite numerous requests by the Mayor.

On her capacity as a woman, Isha Johansen added her voice in reminding Sierra Leoneans that, Her Worship, Yvonne Aki-Sawyer was elected by Freetonians.