By Davida Spaine-Solomon
Freetown, 5th January 2026- A disagreement between the Freetown City Council (FCC) and the Local Government Service Commission (LGSC) has spilt into the public domain, raising concerns about financial stability at City Hall at a time when critical year-end accounting processes are underway.
At the center of the dispute is the proposed transfer of the FCC’s Finance Officer, ordered by the LGSC to take effect on 30 December 2025, with a warning of a three-month suspension without pay should the officer fail to comply.
But the Mayor of Freetown, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, has formally objected to the timing of the transfer, arguing that removing the head of the council’s finance department at the close of the financial year could seriously disrupt ongoing operations and expose the council to avoidable risks.
In a letter dated 24 December 2025 and addressed to the Executive Secretary of the LGSC, the Mayor said the end of the year is a critical period for any finance department, noting that the council is currently engaged in several sensitive processes that require continuity and institutional knowledge.
“These include the uploading of the 2026 budget onto the PFM Smart system, reconciliation of multiple revenue streams, and the preparation of 2025 financial statements for audit,” the Mayor stated.
The PFM Smart system, a digital public financial management platform being piloted by the Ministry of Finance at FCC, is still new and complex. According to the Mayor, the outgoing Finance Officer is the only officer in the country with extensive hands-on experience using the system. In addition, FCC operates MOPTAX, a digital property rate system unique to the capital, whose year-end reconciliations are overseen by the same officer.
The Mayor warned that enforcing the transfer at this stage could lead to operational delays, errors, and setbacks in audit preparations, stressing that a quieter period in the financial calendar would be more appropriate for such a transition.
“I have a statutory responsibility under the Local Government Act to ensure that the financial affairs of the council are properly managed and controlled,” she wrote, referencing Section 12(2)(h) of the Local Government Act, 2022.
However, the Local Government Service Commission maintains that the transfer process was agreed upon earlier in the month. In a letter dated 23 December 2025, the Commission stated that discussions held on 11 December had concluded with an agreement for the Finance Officer to hand over to the incoming officer by 17 December.
The LGSC further claimed that the Chief Administrator of FCC reported that the Finance Officer failed to complete the handover as agreed and without a valid reason. The Commission therefore instructed that the handover be completed on or before 30 December, warning of disciplinary action should the directive be ignored.
The escalating exchange between the two institutions has sparked broader questions about coordination, authority, and decision-making within local governance structures, especially when national financial reforms and public accountability mechanisms are involved.
Governance observers note that abrupt leadership changes within finance departments during year-end processes can complicate audits, delay reporting, and increase the risk of errors, potentially affecting public confidence.
For now, the Mayor has appealed for the transfer to be temporarily put on hold to allow the completion of ongoing financial activities, while the LGSC insists it is enforcing an administrative decision already agreed upon.
As the standoff continues, attention turns to whether dialogue and compromise will prevail and whether the public interest will remain at the center of the decision-making process.
