By Saidu Dumbuya
Stats SL has begun the training of trainers for the 2026 Population and Housing Census.
The training was held on Monday, 8th September, 2025 at Hotel 5-10, East of Freetown.
The Statistician General of Sierra Leone, Andrew Bob Johnny informed that sometimes back the president proclaimed that the census shall be done within the boundaries of Sierra Leone.
He said the trainers are the people that will be training the district staff for a period of ten days, underscoring that it is the planning process for the entire census itself.
According to SG, the said exercise will take seven months, adding that before they go to the field, they have to be trained properly.
He informed that at the end of this training all those that have been trained will understand the terms of reference of the mapping process, and that they will now go in the field to do the necessary mapping that will lead to the 2026 Population and Housing Census data collection.
According to him, they have to ensure that what they are collecting is well understood by those that are going to teach.
He also stated that they have to deal with moral issues, and that they should know that the people they will be collecting the data from are indigenes of this country and that they should be fair, open and transparent in whatever information they will be given to them.
He said, credible data plays a very vital role in maintaining trust and credibility.
The Statistician General further noted that census is for development, revealing that all the data that will be collected such as Geo-coordinate for agriculture, health, education, energy, sport, social welfare, among others, will used by government for development purposes.
“We are looking forward to seeing a successful Population and Housing Census come 2026 in December, and the pathway is to have this training process conducted very well, go to the District level and eventually the field work,” he said.
He furthered that at the end of the field work, “we suppose to have mass coverage of the entire country, which are the enumeration areas, these are the maps the enumerators will be using to guide them to the locations where they will be and also to ensure they collect the requisite data”.
The master that will be generated, he said, will have to direct the enumerators where they should go and after that the questioners will developed or designed and they will now be there to ensure that they collect the data related to the number of persons in those households, how many school pupils, how many involved in agriculture and other trades, among others.
Other speaker who made contribution include, the Director of Censuses, AbdulaiSalia Brima and consultant.
