THE 52% SOLUTION: IS SIERRA LEONE READY FOR A FEMALE PRESIDENT?

By Samuel Wise Bangura

The math of Sierra Leonean democracy is both startlingly simple and frustratingly ignored. According to the 2021 Mid-Term Population and Housing Census, women make up roughly 52.2% of the nation's population. In a winner-takes-all democratic system, these numbers are not just a demographic fact; they are a latent political superpower. If the women of Sierra Leone decided, with singular resolve, to rally behind one of their own, the "male-dominated" fortress of Tower Hill would crumble in a single election cycle.

Yet, as we look toward 2028, the question remains: Is Sierra Leone ready for a female presidency? Or more accurately, is the Sierra Leonean political machine ready to stop sabotaging the majority?

For over six decades, Sierra Leone's political leadership has been an exclusively male club. Every elected, military, and interim leader since independence has been a man. This stands in stark contrast to the nation's demographic reality: women constitute the majority of the population, with recent estimates showing they make up just over 52.2% of Sierra Leoneans. This stark paradox frames the most provocative question facing the nation's 2028 elections: Can the female majority finally rally behind one of its own to shatter the highest glass ceiling?

The mathematics are simple and undeniable. If the women of Sierra Leone were to vote as a unified bloc for a single female candidate, victory would be a foregone conclusion. The recent census data underscores the sheer weight of this potential voting bloc. The question, therefore, is not about a lack of numbers, but about the monumental challenge of converting this demographic majority into cohesive political power. The dream of a female presidency hinges on this unity.

To understand the scale of the challenge, one must examine the historical landscape. Women's participation has often been channeled into tokenistic, supportive roles. Political parties have long maintained "Women's Wings," structures that one recent op-ed argues are "infinitely reductive" and perpetuate a culture of "sycophantic ingratiation for relevance". These wings mobilize votes but rarely translate into genuine leadership pathways.

There have been historic, yet isolated, breakthroughs. The late Dr. Kadie Sesay made history in 2011 when she was appointed as the running mate to then-presidential candidate Julius Maada Bio in the 2012 elections. Commentators at the time noted the move was significant, reinforcing a vision for inclusion and putting a "distinguished career politician, a development guru and an academic" at the heart of governance.  However, such appointments have remained the exception, not the rule.

In parliament, progress has been slow but measurable. The implementation of the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act, which mandates a 30% quota for women in constituency seats, has helped increase female representation. As of late 2025, women held 42 out of 149 parliamentary seats (28.2%). This pipeline of female legislators is crucial, but the ultimate executive power remains out of reach.

To better align with the provocative and analytical tone of your article, I have restructured these historical facts into a cohesive narrative. This version emphasizes the evolution of female candidacy from "symbolic" to "systemic challenge."

The road to 2028 is littered with the courageous, albeit marginalized, efforts of women who dared to challenge the status quo. Their journeys reveal a pattern not of personal failure, but of a political architecture designed to keep women on the periphery.

The glass ceiling first felt a tremor in 1996 when Mrs. Jeredine Williams vied for the presidency under the Coalition for Progress Party (CPP). Though she withdrew before the final polls, she set a precedent of female audacity. By 2002, the momentum shifted toward party leadership. Dr. Sylvia Blyden made history as the first woman to lead a political party, the Young People’s Party (YPP). Simultaneously, Zainab Hawa Bangura, a titan of civil society founded the Movement for Progress (MOP). Despite her international reputation for integrity, the lack of a traditional "grassroots" machine saw her secure less than 1% of the vote.

The 2018 elections saw a resurgence of female ambition, yet the results remained tethered to the margins. Gbandi Jemba Ngobeh stood for the Revolutionary United Front Party (RUFP), while Femi Claudius Cole emerged as a distinct voice of conscience. As a nurse-turned-politician and founder of the Unity Party, Cole’s campaign was substantive, focusing on the fundamental pillars of healthcare and education.

Despite an endorsement from former First Lady Isata Jabbie Kabbah, Cole’s campaign faced the brutal reality of the Sierra Leonean "Two-Party" hegemony. Without the juggernaut of the SLPP or APC machinery, and starved of the massive funding required to compete with male incumbents, the Unity Party secured a negligible percentage of the vote. She was barred from contesting the 2023 elections.

These historical bids prove that in Sierra Leone, a woman’s competence is rarely the issue; rather, it is the lack of a major political vehicle. As long as women remain relegated to third-party tickets or "special interest" movements, their presidential bids will remain virtually symbolic, a noble exercise in democracy that stops short of actual power.

As the 2028 election cycle begins, a new generation of women is stepping forward, aiming to conquer the party fortresses that have historically shut them out.

Dr. Sylvia Olayinka Blyden, a prominent journalist and former minister, has formally declared her intention to contest for the flagbearer position of the main opposition All People's Congress (APC). In a detailed New Year's message, she positioned herself as a veteran ready to provide "bold leadership" and a "fresh direction" for a party reeling from electoral defeats

Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr OBE, the high-profile Mayor of Freetown, has also announced her aspiration to run for president in 2028. Her platform is built on a record of urban governance, climate action, and job creation in the capital.

Their candidacies are no longer on the fringes but at the heart of the established party system. However, their path is fraught with internal party dynamics, "old boy" networks, and the pervasive question of whether the APC or the SLPP is truly ready to anoint a female standard-bearer.

The SLPP and APC are described as "male institutions that to this point, see women less as equals, more as a voting bloc". The machinery for selecting flagbearers is dominated by male elites who are often unwilling to cede ultimate power. The very structures meant to organize women often serve to ghettoize them, focusing on mobilization for male candidates rather than cultivating female leaders for the top ticket. For a female candidate to win a major party nomination, she must first defeat entrenched male rivals within her own party, a battle that can drain resources and create internal divisions before the national race even begins. Politics in Sierra Leone is expensive. Women generally have less access to the vast financial resources needed to run a national campaign, network with kingmakers, and secure media coverage. Deep-seated patriarchal attitudes question women's toughness, decisiveness, and suitability for the highest office, a bias often reflected in media coverage and voter attitudes.

For the dream to become reality, strategic, relentless groundwork is essential.

Women's groups must shift from merely mobilizing votes for parties to strategically negotiating for the flagbearer position. Movements like "Wi Duti" (Our Responsibility), which is demanding parties "clear the decks for an actual ‘new direction’" and field a woman president, exemplify this new, assertive approach. Female aspirants like Blyden and Aki-Sawyerr must build broad, cross-ethnic and cross-regional coalitions within their parties, demonstrating not just popularity but unassailable electability. The female MPs and local councilors empowered by the 30% quota must become a powerful internal lobby within their parties, advocating for a female presidential candidate as the logical culmination of the gender equity agenda. Establishing dedicated funding networks and PACs (Political Action Committees) to finance female presidential campaigns is critical to level the playing field. Female candidates must forcefully own their narratives of competence, vision, and leadership, translating their often impressive records in administration, business, and civil society into a compelling presidential pitch.

The 2028 election is more than a political contest; it is a national reckoning. Sierra Leone has the laws, the demographic majority, and the emerging female leadership. What it lacks is the collective will to translate potential into power. The appointment of Kadie Sesay was a promise; the candidacy of Femi Claudius Cole was a test. The campaigns of Sylvia Blyden and Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr are the most serious probes yet into the fortress of male privilege.

The numbers do not lie. If the women of Sierra Leone decide their time is now, and if they can forge the unity and strategy to match their demographic might, 2028 will not be about whether the country is ready for a female president. It will be about a nation that finally chose to live up to its own democratic ideals. The power, ultimately, is in their hands. The question is whether they will use it.