The elected main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party Mayors/Chairpersons and local ward Councillors have commenced taking their oath of office to mark their official return to governance in the country after their three-month boycott of State governance following the announcement of the June 24, 2023 election results which the APC said were rigged by the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL) in favour of the ruing Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) presidential candidate.

After an intense period of weeks, if not months of negotiation by the Commonwealth of Nations, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU) to get the opposition APC and the ruling SLPP to end the protracted political impasse, a peace deal was signed by both parties, which included an agreement by the APC elected officials to return to national governance.
According to the Mayor-elect of the Freetown City Council (FCC), Yvonne Aki-Sawyer, “Further to the recently signed agreement for national unity, and the end of the APC non-participation in governance, said is very pleased and humbled to serve for a second term as the mayor of Freetown.