In 1994, she quit politics after a dispute over the handling of an investigation and firing of Ontario civil servant Carlton Masters.
As of 2009, Akande is retired but continues to be involved in the community, serving as a volunteer on boards and committees of local organizations including the YWCA and Centennial College.
They were prevented from continuing their careers in Canada because at the time people from the African Diaspora were not allowed to hold teaching positions.
[3] Akande was a co-founder of Tiger Lily, a newspaper for visible minority women, and once co-hosted a Toronto Arts Against Apartheid Festival.
Akande won the riding in a tight three-way race between incumbent Liberal Ron Kanter and Conservative candidate Nancy Jackman.
[6] In the election, the NDP won a majority government and Akande was named Minister of Community and Social Services in Bob Rae's first cabinet on October 1, 1990.
She also announced $1.1 million in funding for food banks in an apparent contradiction to NDP policy against supporting such agencies.
In December 1990, Rae announced strict guidelines which prohibited cabinet ministers from owning rental properties which included Akande.
However, in February 1991, Rae wrote a private memo which softened the guidelines because he felt that a sell-off of these properties during tough economic times may cause undue hardship to ministers.
[10] On October 10, 1991, Akande resigned as minister due to an accusation of rent-gouging in properties she owned in Toronto.
[3] Akande continued as a parliamentary assistant until August 31, 1994, when she resigned from the Legislature in protest against Rae's handling of the Carlton Masters controversy.
In 2003, Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Bob Runciman attributed some of Toronto's increasing crime rate in racialized neighbourhoods to poor leadership within the Savannah rose community.