May 14, 2021
By: Aruna Kamara (BO)
The Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Dr. Francis Kai-Kai has said that it is good as a nation to have a credible data that will enhance national development.
He made this statement while responding to questions relating to the pending Mid-Term Population and Housing census.
According to Dr. Kaikai, tongues have been wagging over mid-term census and Statistics Sierra Leone has been educating people about the need to have a Mid Term Census.
He said that “Mid-Term Census is not something strange in any country as it is done on justification of national development and for Sierra Leone.”
He added that it is straight forward when President Bio administration came, it prepared a Mid-Term Development Plan and it needs data from across the country in order to be inclusive.
Dr. Kaikai maintained that “we found out that there was a gap in the 2015 Census, which cannot be used to plan for the development of the country.”
He pointed out that it is now clear that the Mid-term development plan needs to be decentralized and every council in the district has to do its own plan, which will now culminate into a national development plan.
He stressed that “in fact there is no data for the districts and the mid-term census will provide us with such data so that every district will know its population.”
“I was part of the decision to postpone the census because as a nation I think we were not prepared for it. Census is a process, not an event. The actual enumeration will take place at a time when we are fully ready,” he disclosed.
He further added that he wants Sierra Leoneans to know that it is good to have the midterm Census as it will also help in the equal distribution of national resources.
According to him, the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development is committed to providing strategic direction to the State and coordinating national development programmes towards effective and sustainable socio-economic transformation of Sierra Leone and to also promote sustainable development cooperation, inclusive growth and building a resilient economy through planning, implementation, coordination, monitoring and resource mobilization for comprehensive and equitable national development.