Mayor Aki-Sawyerr calls on government to show political will in the fight against Kush amid growing  deaths

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 7 September 2025:

There is an alarming rise in the number of young people dying in the streets and suburbs of Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown, from Kush –  a poisonous chemical cocktail, smoked by many to escape the pain of poverty, unemployment and despair.

Freetown’s Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr continues to speak out against the rising epidemic, she describes as the “normalization of the abnormal”, and is calling on the government to demonstrate real political will in the fight against Kush.

On Monday 18th August, 2025, Mayor Aki-Sawyerr told Liberty Online TV that 128 dead bodies had been collected across the capital since the start of the year, by Freetown City Council staff.

Speaking on Liberty Online TV again last week, she repeated calls for the government to take urgent action to tackle the mounting Kush deaths in Freetown.

The number of Kush victims buried by Freetown City Council since the start of the year to date, now stands at 142, a rise of 14 in the last three weeks.

Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr is calling on the government to stop the Kush supply chain and address what she describes as a “national crisis”, questioning the government’s claim of advancing human capital development in the country.

She stresses that the reality on the ground tells a different story, far from the government’s so called human capital development policy.

She notes that the alarming rate at which young people are dying from Kush abuse, coupled with the lack of decisive action to tackle the problem, undermines the very foundation of the government’s human capital development policy.

Responding to questions about the state of the roads in Freetown and the lack of maintenance, Mayor Aki-Sawyerr said that the Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA) are responsibility for maintaining the roads, whilst the Road Maintenance Fund collects the fees from vehicle licences as well as a percentage from all fuel purchases to fund road maintenance work.

 

Video – Mayor Aki-Sawyerr speaking about the deplorable state of Freetown’s roads, urging the government to prioritize repairs.  

Video – Mayor Aki-Sawyerr urges urgent action as Kush deaths mount in the capital.