The Mayor of Freetown, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr on Monday March 7, 2022, officially opened 230th anniversary (1792-2022) celebrations of Freetown at the City Hall auditorium.
The opening celebration was climaxed with cultural and drama performances and Freetown history panel discussions of what Freetown was and the Freetown we envisaged.
The celebrations would entail host of activities around the municipality to showcase the cultural trait and to reimagine what Freetown was before it emerged into a densely populated city.
In her Keynote address, Mayor Aki-Sawyerr said that the celebrations would recapture historical value of the city and would also serve as hallmark towards recalibrating the Athens of West Africa.
She added that Freetown is considered as a city of hope and freedom with lots of job opportunities, adding that Freetown is unique because of its geographical boundaries.
Speaking on what Freetown was, Engineer Melbourne Garber said that before Freetown came into existence in 1792, there was Graville Town in 1787.
He said that the idea to send the Black Poor to England was initiated by the British Botanist, Henry Smeathman, who had lived in Banana Island and married to Kingtom daughter and later introduced a place for a new settlement.
Speaking on the Freetown we envisaged, Dr. Julius Spencer said that the envisaged Freetown as a place where ‘Freetownians’ would become law abiding citizens, live orderly and embark on cleaning of their frontage and drainages. Dr. Spencer cited that Freetown is losing it historical structures, adding that stones structures had been painted thereby losing it historical value. He said that because the city is densely populated with shops there are no longer residential areas.
By George M.O. Williams