National Council for Civic Education and Development (NaCCED) organized a stakeholder engagement session on the Mid Term Population and Housing Census on Monday 10th January 2022, at Bank Complex, King Tom, Freetown. This event targeted 16 Tribal Headmen and women in the Western Urban District, and 40 Village Headmen in Western Rural communities.
In his opening address, Mr. Kalilu Totangi, NaCCED Chairman, noted that, prominent among reasons the Council was established, are to promote citizen’s rights, roles responsibilities, and national peace and cohesion. He stressed that, “Census is a civic process that involves the lives and wellbeing of every citizen; young and old, and therefore it is very important to ensure that individuals, chiefs, community elders, parents etc, ensure that their households are counted”.
The 2021 Mid-Term Population and Housing Census, which was officially slated for the 10th-23rd December 2021 and later extended to the 30th of December, was met with some challenges that impacted data collection and activity schedule in certain communities. One among the challenges was that some communities refused to cooperate with and participate in the process – refused to get counted or stopped others from being counted. This, according to Mr. Totangi, is a serious threat to national development. “NaCCED wants a fair counting process that can ensure fair allocation of resources based on the numbers or exact data. That is why we decided that you who are the chiefs and the elders responsible for the people in your communities, and who they listen to, should be engaged by Statistics Sierra Leone to give you an update on the operations and status of the mid-term census, as well as Statistics Sierra Leone getting update from you all on the challenges on the ground.”
The Statistician- General and Chief Census Officer, Professor Osman Sankoh apologized for not getting this type of engagement with Tribal Heads and Headmen prior to the start of the census. He described the Tribal and Village Headmen/women as very important leaders in their communities. He revealed that the 2021 Mid-Term census was borne out of the need to have a digital census data, rectify mismatches in the previous census data to ensure proper analysis and resource allocation. Stressing the need to correct the issues associated with the previous census data, the Chief Census Officer noted that, “you wouldn’t be able to give correct data or figures about the population across the districts because most of them are the type 3 localities and about 60% of these localities couldn’t be figured out in terms of their various numbers.” Professor Sankoh added that they are currently on the “Mopping up exercise stage” which has to do with reviewing coverage to determine the status of the process. “We have reviewed the entire coverage and identified resistance hotspots where we had issues. To address this, we have devised a strategy like this meeting today to improve performance”, he said. He revealed that the western area is one of those areas that did not perform well in the counting and had challenges. “Speaking to the Tribal heads and Headmen and women today has revealed that it is a very good strategy because we now know the number of enumeration areas that have not been served, so we are going to ensure fresh deployment of enumerators in all affected areas”, he stressed. He entreated every Sierra Leonean to be part the process which he says, “is their right and their contribution to national development.”
Speaking on behalf of the Paramount Chiefs, P.C Fayia Sundif Brima Sovula the Fourth from Kamajei Chiefdom, emphasized the importance of their role as chiefs and community representatives. He said an earlier consultation with the tribal heads and chiefs, would have prevented controversies around the mid-term census process.
Also, Chief Sahr Gbekie, Chairman for the Council of Tribal Heads in the Western Area started that they work closely with their subjects compared to other politicians. He applauded the effort of Statistics Sierra Leone for carrying out a digitalized census process which he described as “a good job”, and thanked NaCCED for facilitating this meeting.
Alhaji James Slowe Chairman for the Village Heads said their inclusion in the census process and any other developmental agenda is key, because “they do not represent any political party”. He said the 121 elected Village Headmen in the western rural are the right people to disseminate messages on national development.
A PowerPoint presentation on the census process was done by the Deputy Statistician General Andrew Bob Johnny. This presentation gave participants deeper insight into the rationale for the Mid Term Census. The Chiefs, Tribal Heads and Headmen made a public commitment and support to the process and promised to engage their respective afterwards. NaCCED Chairman announced that the Council will organize similar engagement for Paramount Chiefs and other local leaders in the Northeast and Northwest regions of the country shortly after that engagement.
