A Woman in Leadership Without a God Father in Salone Suffers Misogynistic Bullying by Men in Power

Based on incidents that have taken place, the Mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone, is one of the most bullied and disrespected leaders, at the hands of cabinet ministers of the current administration. All because she is a woman.

Photo Credit: Cocorioko.net

In the chronically patriarchal society of Sierra Leone, a woman in leadership needs to have a male protector at the upper echelons of power in the country, in order to be treated with respect and regard by men in power.

Unfortunately, Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, happens to be a member of the opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party, who is serving during the administration of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP). This simply means that she does not have the protection of  the current president, as a God father; she is extremely vulnerable to disrespect and bullying, with impunity, by cabinet ministers and other officials of the current administration.

In 2018, a video of an incident that went viral on social media, showed a deputy minister of the ruling party verbally assaulting and chastising Mayor Aki-Sawyerr.  Again, a few days ago, a minister in the current administration, with the help of law enforcement and military officers, without prior notice to the Mayor, demolished a construction project that the Mayor had started, as part of the Freetown City Council’s Transform Freetown disaster prevention efforts. The project is funded by the governments of Japan and United Kingdom and thousands of dollars had been put into starting the initiative.

Lucky for the Mayor this time, she was not on site at the time of the demolition, but her hired workers reported being beaten, harassed and threatened by the minister and his entourage during the destruction of their hard work.

The point here is not to judge whether or not the Mayor had authority to start building the project at the site. The point is the disrespectful manner in which the ministers consistently deal with the Mayor every time a dispute arises. We strongly believe that the situation would be  very different if the Mayor were a man. And that as a female leader, if she were a member of the ruling party, she would have the protection of the powers that be; even if she were to cross any of those hostile cabinet ministers, she would not be subjected to such bullying and maltreatment.

This behavior toward the elected Mayor of the nation’s capital must be condemned! Regardless of what party we belong to, we must not be so blinded by partisan politics that we fail to see the misogynistic attitude toward the Mayor. Men in power must know they are in the limelight, their bad behaviors toward one woman could influence ordinary men mistreating girls and women generally in the country.

#StopBullyingthemayor

#stopbullyingwomen