By Mabinty M. Kamara
Statistics Sierra Leone (Stats SL) has in a press statement announced a new date for the commencement of the Mid-Term National Population and Housing Census, which was initially scheduled for December 4 this year.
The new date for the census, according to a statement from the statistical agency, is April 19th, 2021.
The exercise, which will be the first of its kind to be conducted in Sierra Leone, was declared by President Julius Maada Bio on the 21st of July this year. The President back then noted that the census will help his government plan properly, ensure equitable distribution of resources and foster economic and social development.
The declaration however raised eyebrows, with critics questioning the relevance of the process, citing the fact that it was only five years after the last census was done.
Sierra Leone, until now, had conducted census every 10 years.
Officials of Stats SL and the government said a midterm census was necessary to rectify some anomalies occasioned by the last census.
The government said it committed Le14 billion to facilitate the exercise. It is also being supported financially by the World Bank and the United Nations.
Statistics Sierra Leone blamed Convid-19 for the change in date for the census.
“Sats SL has been making progress on many fronts in the preparations against the proclaimed date. However, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on the planned support from external institutions, the following areas of our preparations have been affected: Movement of high level technical personnel (international consultants); and procurement of digital materials required for the census,” the agency said in its statement on Tuesday.
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