Africa Eye

Mayor on the Front line: Democracy in Crisis (2024x4)

Air date: Mar 03, 2024

Since being elected in 2018, Freetown mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr has won international plaudits for her commitment to fighting the myriad challenges facing the capital of Sierra Leone, one of Africa’s poorest countries. But during her bid for re-election for a second term, she finds herself on the front line of a democratic crisis. As election season ramps up, her campaign faces intimidation, violence and international concerns over the integrity of the election process. Mayor on the Front Line follows Aki-Sawyerr as she confronts the hard realities of politics in a country still scarred by the horrors of a bloody civil war.