Freetown Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr has suspended the city’s collection of unclaimed corpses found on the streets, citing an alarming rise in suspected Kush-related deaths, even as the central government accused her of overstepping her authority.
In a letter to the Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs dated Oct. 20, Aki-Sawyerr said the Freetown City Council (FCC) recorded 220 bodies between January and early October 2025, a sharp increase from fewer than 50 annually before 2023. The majority of the dead were young men, and many deaths were “anecdotally linked to the consumption of Kush,” a synthetic drug that has ravaged communities across Sierra Leone.
“The frequency with which corpses are being collected from the streets of Freetown is neither natural nor acceptable,” the mayor wrote. “Freetown City Council cannot continue to collect and bury our youth in silence.”
The mayor added that the council would stop collecting bodies until the government clarified which institution has the legal authority to do so. She urged the ministry to provide a contact point for future corpse reports, saying the FCC’s mandate under the Local Government Act 2022 does not explicitly cover such activities.
Attached to her correspondence was a spreadsheet showing the number and location of corpses collected between January and October, with 170 buried by the council and 50 claimed by families.
However, the Ministry of Local Government responded the same day with a sternly worded letter, accusing Aki-Sawyerr of “misinterpretation of the roles” of her office and the ministry.
Minister Tamba Lamina reaffirmed the government’s oversight powers, citing Section 105(4) of the Local Government Act, which mandates councils to provide “information, documents, records and explanations” at the ministry’s request.
“The Ministry retains the exclusive authority to intervene, inspect, and take appropriate action in any Local Council whenever circumstances warrant such intervention,” Lamina wrote. “Any failure or delay to comply will be deemed a direct obstruction of lawful ministerial oversight.”
He added that while Section 107 of the Act gives the Local Government Service Commission responsibility for human resource management, it does not diminish the ministry’s regulatory or corrective authority.
The ministry’s letter, copied to the Vice President and several senior government officials, underscores ongoing tensions between the central government and Freetown’s mayor, who has frequently clashed with authorities over governance and accountability issues.
The exchange comes amid mounting concern over the Kush epidemic, which health officials say has led to a spike in mental illness, addiction, and unexplained deaths among Sierra Leone’s youth. The synthetic drug — often mixed with marijuana and other chemicals — has become widespread despite repeated government crackdowns.
Neither the Ministry of Internal Affairs nor the police have publicly commented on the latest figures provided by the Freetown City Council.
Aki-Sawyerr said the council remains ready to share data and collaborate on a coordinated response but warned that “urgent, decisive action” was needed to stem the loss of life.
