By Kemo Cham
Statistics Sierra Leone (Stats SL) has unveiled its new timeline for the planned Mid-term Population and Housing Census slated for next year.
A news dispatched released by the national statistical agency on Monday indicates that preliminary report on the outcome of the exercise is expected in by August, 2021, with the dissemination of the final report expected to be in September the following month.
Between then and now, according to the Stats SL, it is planning to embark on a pilot cartography and cartographic field data collection this month, to be followed by the commencement of the process of delineating and finalizing the Enumeration Area (EA) maps in December through March, 2021.
The agency said it intends to design the electronic questionnaire and upload it into tablets within the same period - December to March 2021, noting that the pilot census will begin in February, recruitment and training of enumerators conducted from January to March and deployment and field data collection to start in April. Post enumeration survey is scheduled to begin in May and data analysis and report writing running from June to July 2021.
This timeline was presented to stakeholders of Stats SL at two separate consultative meetings held for the technical and publicity committees last week – October 27 and 28, the release notes.
Deputy Statistician General, Andrew Bob Johnny, was quoted in the release saying that the timeline presented indicated a “huge task” ahead for the agency, urging its staff to brace up to meeting the “high expectations” from the rest of the population.
The mid-term census, which was initially scheduled to commence in December, was recently rescheduled to April 19, with the statistical agency blaming the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic for causing difficulties that forced it to re-strategize.
Both the government and Stats SL officials have defended the idea of conducting the exercise five years after the last census, in the face of concerns about the intent and timeliness.
Normally Sierra Leone has always conducted census every 10 years. But officials insist, in the face of opposition from the opposition political parties and some section of the civil society, that this exercise is needed to rectify some anomalies characterized by the last census in 2015.
As of the end of October, the agency said it had started a training of trainers session for cartographic field staff, which is expected to continue throughout this month.
Last week’s meetings, Stats SL said, provided opportunity for the agency to give a comprehensive explanation on the time line of events, mapping and data collection methodology. The participants also conducted evaluation of the questionnaire and constituted the composition of the publicity and communication committee. They also reviewed and adopted the census messages, and presented the census’ communication strategy.
While reiterating his defense of the census, Statistician General Prof Osman Sankoh, said at the Technical Committee meeting held on Tuesday, 27th October that from the moment President Julius Maada Bio made the proclamation of the census, the whole process leading to this point had been one of consultation.
Mr Moses Williams, Chairman of Stats SL Council, gave the key note address at the communication and publicity committee meeting on the 28th October meeting. He assured that the midterm census was by no means intended to discredit the 2015 census.
Samuel Ansumana, Communications Director of Stats SL, presented the communications strategy for the census.
The recommendations and key points emanating from the two days engagement were expected to be discussed and subsequently endorsed by the Advisory Committee of Stats SL at a meeting scheduled for a meeting on Tuesday 3rd November.
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