📰 Freetown · page 2

In the 1890s, ethnic tension flared between Lebanese residents and traders and the various native ethnicities of Sierra Leone, which led to Lebanese shops being destroyed in cities[11] including Freetown.82

During World War I Freetown became a base for operations of British forces in the Atlantic.83 Warships came into the port to resupply and German merchant vessels captured in the region were also sent there.[22]84

During World War II, Britain maintained a naval base at Freetown.85 The base was a staging post for Allied traffic in the South Atlantic and the assembly point for SL convoys to Britain.86 An RAF base was maintained at nearby Lungi airfield.87 British fighter aircraft which were shipped into Freetown port, were carried on the Sierra Leone Government Railway to Makeni to be assembled and flown to Egypt.88

Civil war, 1990s to early 2000s

Main article: Siege of Freetown

The city was the scene of fierce fighting in the late 1990s during the Sierra Leone Civil War.89 It was captured by ECOWAS troops seeking to restore President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah in 1998.90 Later it was unsuccessfully attacked by rebels of the Revolutionary United Front.91

Mudslide disaster, 2017

Main article: 2017 Sierra Leone mudslides

In the early morning on 14 August 2017, after much heavy rain, part of Mount Sugar Loaf on an edge of Freetown collapsed in a huge mudslide which drowned over 300 people in Regent town.92 Deforestation has been blamed for the landslide.[23][24][25]93

Sierra Leone fuel tanker explosion, 2021

Main article: 2021 Sierra Leone fuel tanker explosion

On 5 November 2021, a fuel tank truck collided with another truck in Freetown, resulting in an explosion killing at least 99 and injuring around 100.94

Geography

Freetown borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Western Area Rural District.95 Freetown municipality is politically divided into three regions: East End, Central and West End of Freetown.96 The wards in the East End of Freetown (East I, East II, and East III) contain the city's largest population centre and generally the poorest part of the city.97 The Queen Elizabeth II Quay is located within East End.98 The Lion Mountains sit southeast to Freetown.99

The two central wards (Central I and Central II) make up Central Freetown, which includes Downtown Freetown and the central business district (Central II).100 Most of the tallest and most important national government building and foreign embassies are based in Central Freetown.101

Sierra Leone's House of Parliament and the State House, the principal workplace of the president of Sierra Leone, are on Tower Hill in central Freetown.102 The National Stadium, the home stadium of the Sierra Leone national football team (popularly known as the Leone Stars) is in the Brookfield neighborhood.103

The three westernmost wards (West I, West II, and West III) of the city constitute the West End of Freetown.104 These wards are relatively affluent.105 Most of the city's luxury hotels, a number of casinos, and Lumley Beach are in the west end of the city.106 The West End neighbourhood of Hill Station is home to the State Lodge, the official residence of the president of Sierra Leone.107

Climate

Like the rest of Sierra Leone, Freetown has a tropical climate with a rainy season from May through November; the balance of the year represents the dry season.108 The beginning and end of the rainy season is marked by strong thunderstorms.109 Under the Köppen climate classification, Freetown has a tropical monsoon climate (Am) primarily due to the heavy amount of precipitation it receives during the rainy season.110

Freetown's high humidity is somewhat relieved December through February by the Harmattan, a wind blowing from the Sahara Desert, affording Freetown its coolest period of the year.111 Temperature extremes recorded in Freetown are from 15 C to 38 C all year.112 The average annual temperature is around 28 C.113

In 2021, the city appointed its first heat officer, Eugenia Kargbo, to address the impact of rising temperatures in the city.[26]114

Demographics

Further information: Religion in Sierra Leone, Languages of Sierra Leone

Freetown is home to a large population of both Muslims and Christians, though Muslims make up the majority of the population.115 In the youth populations of both faiths can be found a significant liberal influence.116 Like the rest of Sierra Leone, Freetown is a religiously tolerant city, with Muslims and Christians living side by side peacefully.117

As in many parts of Sierra Leone, the Krio language (the English-based creole language of the Sierra Leone Creole people who make up 5% of the country's population) is by far the most widely spoken language in the city.118 The language is spoken at home as a first language by over 20% of the city's population and is spoken as a lingua franca by a large number of the population in the city.119 English (the country's official language) is also widely spoken, particularly by the well-educated.120 Themne is the second most spoken language in Freetown after Krio.121 The Themne people also make up the largest members of the population of Freetown and the Western Area Region.122

Government

The city of Freetown is one of Sierra Leone's six municipalities and is governed by a directly elected city council, headed by a mayor, in whom executive authority is vested.123 The current mayor is Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr.124 The mayor is responsible for the general management of the city.125 The mayor and members of the Freetown City Council are elected directly by the residents of Freetown every four years.126

The government of the Freetown Municipality has been dominated by All People's Congress (APC) since 2004.127 Since 2004, the residents of Freetown have voted in municipal elections for members of the All People's Congress (APC) by an overwhelming majority.128 The APC won the city's mayorship and vast majority seats in the Freetown city council in the 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2018 local elections by more than 67% each.129

In Presidential elections Freetown is considered a swing city, as it has a large support base of both the All People's Congress and the Sierra Leone People's Party.130 However, the APC has won majority percent of the votes in Freetown in the 2007, 2012 and 2018 Sierra Leone Presidential election, including The APC winning more than 65% of the votes in Freetown in both The 2012 and 2018 Sierra Leone Presidential elections.131 The APC presidential candidate Ernest Bai Koroma received 69% of the votes in Freetown in the 2012 Sierra Leone Presidential election; compared to the SLPP presidential candidate Julius Maada Bio who received 30%.132 In the 2018 Sierra Leone Presidential election, The APC presidential candidate Samura Kamara received 65% compared to the SLPP presidential candidate Julius Maada Bio who received 34%, though Maada Bio won the presidential election nationally.133

In November 2011, Freetown Mayor Herbert George-Williams was removed from office and replaced by council member Alhaji Gibril Kanu as acting mayor.134 Mayor Herbert George-Williams and eight others, including the Chief Administrator of the Freetown city council Bowenson Fredrick Philips; and the Freetown city council Treasurer Sylvester Momoh Konnehi, were arrested and indicted by the Sierra Leone Anti-corruption Commission on twenty-five counts on graft charges, ranging from conspiracy to commit corruption to misappropriation of public funds.[27]135 Mayor Herbert George-Williams was acquitted of seventeen of the nineteen charges against him.136 He was convicted of two less serious charges by the Freetown High Court judge Jon Bosco Katutsi and sentenced to pay a fine.[28][29]137

Acting Mayor Kanu lost the APC nomination for the mayor of Freetown in the 2012 Mayoral elections by 56 votes; council member Sam Franklyn Bode Gibson won 106 in a landslide victory.[30][31]138

In the national presidential and parliamentary elections, Freetown is similar to swing states in American politics.139 As the city is so ethnically diverse, no single ethnic group forms a majority of the population of the city.140 Historically, the APC and the SLPP, two of the country's major political parties, have had about equal support in the city.141 In the 2007 Sierra Leone Presidential election, the APC candidate and then main opposition leader, Ernest Bai Koroma, won just over 60% of the votes in the Western Area Urban District, including the city of Freetown, where almost the entire District population reside.142

Culture

The city has the Sierra Leone National Museum and Sierra Leone National Railway Museum.143 There are also various historical landmarks connected to its founding by African Americans, Liberated Africans, and Afro-Caribbeans whose descendants are the Sierra Leone Creole people.[32][33][34][35]144 The Cotton Tree represents the christening of Freetown in March 1792.145 In downtown Freetown is the Connaught Hospital, the first hospital constructed in West Africa that incorporated Western medical practices.146

Freetown has a long-held tradition of organized cultural events taking place on specific dates to coincide with specific holidays or seasons within the calendar year.147 One such event is the Eastern Paddle Hunting Society's annual exhibition of a highly sophisticated masquerade, consisting of a costume built, in a fashionable sense, of various materials available: leather, sequins, sea shells, traditional cloths, etc. The masquerade, known as "Paddle", strategically takes to the streets of the eastern and central parts of the city, followed by members of the Eastern Paddle Hunting Society, traditional musical bands and a crowd of supporters.148 For years this event coincided with the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha until recently, as critics said such an event should not be held on the same day as Muslims celebrate Eid, as Islam is against the practices of secret societies and masquerades.149

The "Tangays" Festival is usually held in November, with a traditional theme that involves virtually every aspect of Sierra Leonean culture.150 It takes place at the National Stadium.151 Towards the end of the festival, a couple of musical concerts are usually held in the main bowl of the stadium, with performances from local and international musical artists (especially contemporary artists from Nigeria and other African countries or the African diaspora).152