Sierra Leone Telegraph: 10 December 2021:
Today, Friday 10 December 2021, President Dr Julius Maada Bio and his family were counted by census enumerators at their home in the Presidential Lodge, Hill Station, Freetown as the controversial 2021 Mid-Term Population and Housing Census gets underway, amid calls from opposition parties for their supporters to boycott the process.
Statistician-General, Professor Osman Sankoh, thanked the President and his family for leading by example and for participating in the process of collecting quality and transparent data in Sierra Leone.
He emphasised that the information would be used for national development, adding that the process leading to the start of the Census was inclusive of all political parties, non-governmental organisations and civil society groups.
“Your Excellency Sir, we brought consultants from Ethiopia, Nigeria and Ghana who have transferred knowledge to our local staff for proper collection of data. Thank you, sir, for providing Statistics SL with 20,000 tablets and power banks to expedite the process,” he concluded.
President Bio commended Statistics SL for their preparedness, saying that he has followed the process right through all the stages.
President Bio called on citizens to participate in the process because of its importance to national development.
“I am calling on every well-meaning Sierra Leonean to come out to be counted. Thank you very much,” he urged.
Yesterday, Statistics Sl issued a statement saying: “The main enumeration starts 10th December 2021 and will last for 14 days until 23rd December 2021. There will always be possibility for mopping up activities after the official 2-week period, as it has been done for previous censuses.
“To get to where we are today, marking the night of the first digital census in Sierra Leone, we have had to enjoy the technical and financial support from several development partners, including the
World Bank, UNFPA, UNECA, UNICEF, MRU, Chinese Embassy, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, Malawi National Statistics Office and Ghana Statistical Service among others. We wish to thank all those who have supported the process thus far.
“The significance of the Census Night celebration is for the public to remember this Night as a reference point for enumeration. All enumerators will be asking questions on the census to get the data they need and will refer to where you slept tonight. This symbolic day will be marked by float parades, loudhailers, and other social activities for remembrance of today.
“Statistics SL also kindly requests households to undertake specific activities on their own including photos to remember those who will sleep in their houses tonight and any other activity that will make them remember this history making event. Stats SL therefore encourages all persons to cooperate with our field staff who will subsequently be at their doorsteps starting 10th December 2021 to collect relevant socioeconomic and demographic data for our national development as a country.
“Act wise by taking part and put your country Sierra Leone among countries that have embraced the digital census.”
Today’s head counting went ahead smoothly across the country, according to the government
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