By Mabinty M. Kamara
Statistic Sierra Leone has in a press statement announced the extension of the controversial mid-term housing and population census to a week in order to ensure that all are counted. The census which started on the 10th of December this year was expected to have ended on the 23rd December but for the extension.
The extension according to a press statement issued by Statistic Sierra Leone is connected to challenges faced by enumerators such as slow deployment of enumeration staff, in some hard to reach communities misinformation on the process and the slow pace of participation in certain communities.
“However, the above highlighted challenges have necessitated the extension of the enumeration by an additional 7 days which will take the process to the 30th December 2021 followed by a mopping up exercise. This extension will enable stats SL to intensify enumeration in outstanding communities where enumeration has been either slow or not carried out yet,” the statement reads.
Weeks to the census which happens to be the first mid-term and electronic census conducted in Sierra Leone, the main opposition party the All Peoples Congress barred all its supporters and members from participating in the process. An act that is contrary to the census Act of 2002.
However, the party in a press statement stated lack of preparedness, constitutional and procedural issues and technical deficiencies among others as reasons for their decision.
This decision of the opposition was followed by the World Bank’s withdrawal of both financial and technical supports from the process, citing limited time for the mandated institution to work on ‘several critical’ action points earlier agreed on with the bank and other development partners to ensure credible and quality data to the census commencement date. The statement by the World Bank released on the 8th of December 2021 noted that “to date, while work on most action points is underway with some completed, several critical action points that require further technical work to be satisfactorily addressed including evaluation of the pilot census , the field operation plan for the enumeration, and ensuring enumerators are trained.”
It added “therefore, while our technical team remains available to provide further continued support, regretfully, we will be unable to neither provide further technical assistance nor disburse any further funds under the ADA Grant No. D584-SL, to support the mid-term census following the announced inception date of data collection on December 10, 2021.”
However, the Statistician General of Statistics Sierra Leone, Professor Osman Sankoh did not budged to the threat but insisted on moving on with the census on the 10th of December as declared by President Julius Maada Bio, saying that census is the responsibility of the government supported by partners and other interested institutions.
The UNFPA, UNEACA, UNICEF, MRU, Chinese embassy, and Kenya national bureau of statistics, Malawi National statistics and the Ghana statistical service remain strong supporters of the process according to officials.
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online (28/12/21)
