December 17, 2021
Some residents of Bo have said that the two weeks slated for the midterm census is inadequate for the enumerators to collect the needed data meant for development planning in the country.
Speaking to various residents in Bo, Sulaiman Bah said that “the enumerators are spending more than one hour collecting data from a household. So if the enumerators are spending more than one hour I wonder how many households they will target a day within their enumeration areas.”
Bah claimed that some of the enumerators do the line listing without the enumeration because they do not want to spend more than an hour on a particular household. He further called on Statistic Sierra Leone to note that most of the enumerators did do not start as planned because they have to go to the bank to get their money. Time has been wasted and to compensate for that there must be an extension of the census time in order to collect credible data.
Another resident, Aminata Bio said “we are calling on statistics to extend the time and if possible a week be added to the 14 days slated for the enumeration. Bo City is also faced with challenges of some people not allowing to be counted and the enumerators have a role to play to talk to them and that takes time before actual enumeration takes place.”
Joseph Ernest Koroma a resident at Old Police Barracks in Bo said that “I was among those who declined not to be counted but because of the polite manner from the enumerator to cajole me, I finally gave in to be counted and that took about forty-five minutes talking to me before the actual enumeration could take place”.
“Some enumerators went for the training and others did not. They never got idea on how to collect data and it will take time for them to adjust to system. These are among the reasons statistics Sierra Leone needs to add more days to the mid-term census, Abu Bangura said.
Speaking on Classic Radio on Thursday, the Southern Region representative Council Member, Daniel Kaindaneh aka Field Marshall said that the enumerators sat to exam and were trained to undertake the census and allayed the fairs of the general public that credible data will be collected during the midterm census.
He however said that ‘’ in the beginning there were challenges but and we have overcome it and I want to assure the people that it is going with a speed because the enumerators are being thoroughly monitored through a dash-board. Apart from that the enumerators are being physically supervised with the presence of supervisors all over the enumerated areas.
‘’The beauty of the work is that if an enumerator is not working it shows on the dash-board and I am a foot soldier in the field and there are other monitors to ensure that the right thing is done,’’ Mr. Kaindaneh noted.
He added that: ‘’in fact what we initially discovered and has been corrected is the area of household listing without the enumeration, and we have told them to do the household listing and at the same time do the enumeration.’’
The only challenge now is the politics that has been brought into the Mid Term Census and I want the people to know that the data that will be collected is meant for the development of the country. So, let us be allowed to be counted. Your counting will contribute to the development of Sierra Leone, Mr. Kaindaneh assured.