By Mohamed Kamara
A Sierra Leonean living in Valencia, Spain, Mr. Abu Turay, has voiced concerns over the country’s census process, calling for the introduction of new mechanisms to ensure more accurate population data collection. According to Turay, the current system is flawed, and Sierra Leone will “never get it right” unless significant changes are made.
Turay emphasized the importance of local and regional cooperation in gathering birth and death data. “Except we introduce new mechanisms, where village heads, paramount chiefs, district councils, and regional representatives commit to informing the daily births and deaths in their respective localities, any census in Sierra Leone will never meet its targeted goals,” he stated. He explained that this would involve a streamlined system where local village heads report demographic changes to the Paramount Chief’s Secretariat, then through district councils, provincial offices, and finally to the central births and deaths secretariat in Freetown.
He compared this process to the efficient digital systems used by developed countries, where births and deaths are automatically recorded and updated. “There is no developed country in the world where they knock on your door to be counted. These countries operate a proper digital and data system that tracks births and deaths anywhere within their territorial limits,” Turay said.
Locally, Turay believes this proposed system could greatly improve census accuracy, especially in rural areas. In urban centers like Freetown, he suggested that community heads, hospitals, and clinics should have established ways of reporting demographic changes directly to the census headquarters. While he acknowledged that it would not be 100% effective at the start, he believes it would be a marked improvement over the current, less reliable mechanisms.
On an international level, Turay highlighted the large number of Sierra Leoneans living abroad. He proposed that the government should ensure that all citizens register at embassies or consulates, where available, to include the diaspora in the census. “For Sierra Leoneans living in countries where we do not have an embassy or consulate, they should register at the nearest British High Commission or consulate,” he suggested. The accumulated data from these registrations could then be added to the domestic census figures.
Turay further noted that census agents in Sierra Leone face difficulties reaching all residents, especially in major cities where people are constantly on the move. “Even in major cities, agents could not reach everybody because of human movements,” he explained.
In political terms, Turay emphasized the importance of the census as an economic lever that impacts governance structures. He argued that by implementing these changes, Sierra Leone could transition to a continuous census process, as opposed to a periodic one. “If these suggestions are implemented, the census process will become a continuous effort rather than a one-time event,” he concluded.
For now, the government’s census efforts continue, with hopes that future improvements may address the concerns raised by members of the diaspora like Mr. Turay.
