Mayor of Freetown, Her Worship Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, has expressed deep concerns about the inactivity and lack of transparency within the Tripartite Recommendations Steering Committee, tasked with overseeing the implementation of crucial electoral reforms in Sierra Leone.
In a formal letter addressed to the Chief Minister who serves as Chair of the Committee Mayor Aki-Sawyerr highlighted several structural and operational shortcomings that she says are undermining the effective rollout of the Tripartite Recommendations. These reforms are aimed at improving transparency, inclusivity, and integrity in the country’s electoral process.
Mayor Aki-Sawyerr, one of the 24 members of the Steering Committee, acknowledged the importance of the Tripartite process and expressed her honor in serving. However, she noted that the Committee has failed to meet its stated objectives and has not operated in accordance with its Terms of Reference (TOR) or Mode of Operation.
Among her key concerns is the absence of a functional work plan and operational sub-committees. Despite requests, she stated that she has not received a copy of the Steering Committee’s work plan. “To the best of my knowledge, no sub-committees currently exist or are operational,” she wrote, adding that there is also no established platform for members to contribute to the constitutional review and legal reform processes, both central to the Committee’s mandate.
Out of the 24 bi-weekly meetings envisioned for the first six months of operations, only seven meetings have been held since the Committee’s inception in July 2024, two of which were with development partners and external observers.
Mayor Aki-Sawyerr also expressed concern over the lack of oversight regarding the Steering Committee Secretariat. She pointed out that members were not informed about the recruitment of the Secretariat’s Coordinator and only became aware of the role through social media posts. “There is no regular reporting of the Secretariat’s activities to the Committee,” she noted, raising concerns over transparency and inclusion in decision-making.
Despite previously raising these concerns both privately and in the Steering Committee’s WhatsApp group, she stated that the Chief Minister’s response has been dismissive, implying that the Committee’s role is not to “micromanage” the Secretariat or implementing government agencies.
Mayor Aki-Sawyerr stressed that her call for accountability should not be misconstrued as interference but rather as a necessary push to ensure the Committee functions as intended. “With only a single one-hour ‘working’ meeting held this year, I am concerned that this is a Steering Committee in name only and not in function,” she emphasized.
The Mayor’s concerns echo similar sentiments shared by other Committee members. On June 19, 2025, the Executive Director of the Campaign for Human Rights and Development International (CHRDI), who also sits on the Committee, made a second appeal within the same month for a meeting to discuss the Committee’s TOR. His calls have reportedly gone unanswered, and no meeting has been held since May 29, 2025.
In closing, Mayor Aki-Sawyerr called on the Chief Minister to urgently operationalize the Steering Committee in accordance with its founding principles of transparency, inclusivity, and oversight. “The oversight role of the Steering Committee is absolutely necessary, and it is imperative that it be exercised,” she wrote.
The Tripartite Recommendations arose from a consultative process aimed at restoring confidence in Sierra Leone’s electoral system. As the country prepares for future electoral cycles, the effectiveness of the Steering Committee is seen as critical to implementing meaningful reforms.
