By Abdul M. Jalloh
Statistics Sierra Leone (Stats SL) has trained over 100 enumerators for a mock census in six districts in readiness for the national population and housing census in December.
Speaking at the end of a 10-day training session in Makeni on Sunday, Stats SL’s northeast regional manager Amadu Sheriff said the training was intended to equip enumerators with the technical knowledge and practical skills needed to successfully conduct the mock census.
“You cannot go to the field without proper knowledge of the work,” said Sheriff. “The mock census is a preparatory exercise to test the tools and systems that will be used during the main census in December 2026.”
The two-week exercise will start on July 20 in selected chiefdoms in Karena, Falaba, Pujehun, Kenema, Western Urban, and Western Rural districts to test census systems, strengthen field operations and validate operational procedures before the decennial census just four months ahead.
“Enumerators will undertake line listing and household enumeration to determine the population of the selected communities,” Sheriff said.
He added that the exercise will address lessons learned during the pilot census conducted last December.
“Census is a very serious national exercise that should not be treated lightly. If the mock census is not conducted properly, the main census will face challenges. That is why we are working hard to minimise errors and omissions,” Sheriff stated.
He urged participants to carry out the task with professionalism and integrity, and appealed for public support for the exercise, stressing its vital importance to the main census activity.
The findings from the mock census, he said, will be analysed to improve planning and operational readiness for the decennial census, whose results will inform national development planning and policy formulation, including service delivery and resource allocation across the country.
Meanwhile, field agents for the cartographic mapping exercise preceding the mock census have raised concerns about delayed payment of their outstanding allowances.
These personnel stated in a public petition that the cartographic mapping was done under “demanding field conditions” but their payments have been delayed longer than necessary.
Samuel Ansumana, communications director at Stats SL, clarified that the institution indeed owes the field staff one-month payment. He said they are working with the Ministry of Finance to get it sorted as soon as possible.
