Freetown, Sierre Leone Mayor Visits New Haven, Its Sister City

NEW HAVEN, CT — Thursday, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker and Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr of Freetown, Sierre Leone met to commemorate the longstanding relationship and bond between their two cities and reaffirmed their Sister Cities agreement.

The relationship between the two cities goes back over 180 years to the historic 1839 Amistad Incident.

"In June 1839, four months after they had been forcibly enslaved and illegally shipped to Cuba, 53 African captives revolted as they were being transported on the schooner Amistad from Havana to Guanaja, Cuba. By day, at the Africans’ orders, two surviving whites sailed the slave ship east toward Africa. But at night, the whites, who had purchased the rebels, altered the ship’s course to the northwest. Following this zigzag course for weeks, the Amistad eventually anchored off eastern Long Island, where it was seized by a U.S. naval brig. A hearing was held in New London, Connecticut. The Africans were arrested, charged with mutiny, murder, and piracy and sent to New Haven where they were jailed, to await trial ." They were cleared of all civil charges brought against them.

The two cities signed a formal Sister Cities agreement on September 29, 1996. Both have engaged in numerous educational and cultural exchanges since then. And, the city of New Haven has assisted the city of Freetown by facilitating humanitarian aid and financial assistance during Sierre Leone’s civil war, the Ebola crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic and other natural disasters.

In New Haven, the relationship between the two cities has been supported by the New Haven Sister Cities Program, The Amistad Committee and Discovering Amistad, among others.

The two mayors, city officials and foreign dignitaries met in front of the Amistad Memorial outside City Hall for the signing of the Sister Cities Reaffirmation Agreement.

Later, both mayors were set to participate in a joint panel discussion on climate change at the Hixon Center Urban Conference at Yale University.

In addition to Freetown, the capital city of Sierre Leone, New Haven has also established sister city relationships with the cities of Afula-Gilboa, Israel; Amalfi, Italy; Avignon, France; Hue, Vietnam; Leon, Nicaragua; Changsha, China and Tetlanohcan, Mexico.