By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
Statistics Sierra Leone has trained over 200 enumerators on the Social Safety Nets Project nicknamed ‘Ep Fet Po’ ( help fight against poverty). The event was held at Theresa Hall, Kennedy Street, Freetown on Friday 4 March 2022.
The Chairman, Statistics Council, Moses Williams in his statement during the formal closing of the training exercise, warned the enumerators that they would be working day and night and that there would be no room for those who might want to be attending classes at the same time. He said the project is time-bound, therefore if anyone has been assigned for a number of days, they are expected to cooperate fully and stop at the appropriate time.
Williams discouraged the habit of time-wasting with the hope that the time frame of the exercise would be extended. ‘’The work that you would be able to finish in two to three weeks’ time, but tend to be careless because of incoming incentives, would not be tolerated,’’ he said. He advised them to desist from troublemaking because of delays sometimes in payment as the money comes from the World Bank. ‘’We have a database for troublemakers and we will not be recruiting them in subsequent surveys,’’ he said.
Senior Social Protection Specialist for World Bank, Dr. Abu Kargbo congratulated the staff of Stats SL and the enumerators for the exercise. He advised would-be enumerators to ensure that they work towards what they have been trained to do.
Dr. Kargbo said they were selected because they have a strong conviction that they would do the job to perfection. He advised against giving money as a reward to anyone they thought could have assisted in their recruitment. ‘’If anyone is caught giving money to someone as a percentage, drastic action would be levied against that individual,’’ he said
The World Bank Representative emphasized that the project is apolitical and that any evidence that it is being politicized, the bank would have it withdrawn, a scenario that he said the Government of Sierra Leone would not be happy about.
Deputy Statistician-General, Andrew Bob Johnny said after compiling grades of the exams, those with the highest grades would be enrolled and sent straight to the field.
One of the beneficiaries of the training, Ishaq Mohamed Kaikai applauded Stats SL for the opportunity to be part of the training. He said he has attended many pieces of training organized by Stats S/L like the baseline survey, but said this one impacted him a lot. He said the composition and the criteria set for those to be enrolled and that every team will have a member from the Anti–Corruption Commission (ACC), National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA and Stats S/L, which makes it very unique.
Kaikai said that the standard they have set for them during the training is for them to target the poorest of the poor.
The Social Safety Nets Project was launched in 2014 to establish a core protection system and progressively expand the coverage of cash transfers to extremely poor households including those having persons with disability.
Copyright © Politico Online 07/03/22)
