By Mohamed M. Sesay
In her usual audio message to the nation, one of the strongest All People’s Congress Party stakeholders Dr. Sylvia Blyden has justified that the Mid-Term Census result is consistent with the previous census results from 2004 census on to the 2021 Mid-term Census in terms of drop in the numbers of the Western Area Urban (Freetown) population.
She made specific reference to the 2004 census on to the 2015 census, with the recent conduct of the 2021 Mid-Term Census having consistent pattern in the drop of numbers in Freetown in terms of Percentage as compared to the Western Rural. She further justified that the reason for the consistent decline of population in the Western Urban is because people wants to live in the Western Rural Areas. She also added that because people in the Western Urban also refused to be counted led to the significance drop of population in the Western Area.
Sylvia Blyden also maintained that the APC supporters refused to be counted whilst people in the SLPP stronghold and the C4C stronghold came out in their numbers for them to be counted. She added that the numbers of the SLPP stronghold and the C4C are now correctly counted and captured. She said the recalcitrant act of APC supporters especially within the Western Area led to the drop of number within the Western Area. She reiterated that previous census results have been showing a drop of populations in the Western Area of which the 2021 Mid-Term Census is not an exception.
“I want to thank all APC supporters for ignoring Ernest Koroma and Osman Foday Yansaneh’s misguided advice and for listening to me for them to be counted during the Mid-Term Census. I still have the audios where I advised my people to go out avail themselves to be counted and ignore the ill advice for former President Koroma.”
She concluded that it was the same ill advice formal President Koroma and Co. gave his supporters to distance themselves from the commission of inquiries. She however noted that majority of APC supporters ignored the bad advice given to them by President Koroma regarding the Mid-Term Census.
