Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr - the tree-planting mayor of Sierra Leone's capital Freetown - BBC News

Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr has faced challenges in her climate change mission but won over many women.

12 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsClimateBy Tamasin FordBBC Africa EyeYvonne Aki-Sawyerr has made a name for herself as a tree-planting mayor of a West African city on the brink of a climate emergency.

The 56-year-old is also the first directly elected female mayor of Freetown - and the first person to be re-elected since it became a position voted for by the residents of Sierra Leone's capital city two decades ago.

BBC Africa Eye had unique access to her and her family last year in the run-up to the elections - an insight into the highs and lows of Sierra Leonean politics and also the personal cost of living in the political limelight.

But after several decades working in finance in London, what has shocked her more than anything about her return home has been the obsession about her capabilities as a woman.

"There was no interview I had when I wasn't asked: 'So do you think you can do this job as a woman?'" says Ms Aki-Sawyerr with a smile on her face.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-68434879

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