ALL PEOPLES CONGRESS (APC)
MOTTO: ACTION PROGRESS COMMITMENT
APC CENSUS TECHNICAL COMMITTEE NEXUS BETWEEN THE PROCESSES OUTCOMES AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE TRIPARTITE AGREEMENT
Statement of the APC Census Committee Chairman Comrade Leonard Balogun Koroma
*Acting National Chairman Ambassador Alhaji Osman Foday Yansaneh
*National Secretary General
*National Officers
*Regional Chairs
*District Chairs
*Representative and Affiliate Groups
*Our Development Partners Representatives
Comrades All
I want to first of all thank the leadership of the APC Party especially our Acting Chairman , Ambassador Alhaji Osman Foday Yansaneh for establishing , in a timely manner , a Census Technical Committee to oversee and coordinate all party-related engagements in all stages of the census process and for inviting the committee to deliver a statement on the nexus of the Census and the tripartite recommendations , particularly in relation to electoral matters . I am sure that this decision was partly informed by the outcome of the now internationally discredited 2021 mid term census . To us, the establishment of this committee is very timely and indicative of the party’s commitment to address national issues through credible data on population characteristics, housing conditions and socioeconomic trends in order to foster social service delivery and enhance the livelihoods of our people ; and less so for political gains .
It is important to note that a population and housing census provides a huge source of reliable data which is not only used for development planning and service delivery but also more importantly for political representation at national and sub-national levels, which is very crucial for the party.
Census data is used to calculate population quotas for the delineation of constituencies and wards which determines the number of representatives in parliament and local councils from specific jurisdictions at a given time. The importance of census data cannot be overemphasized, given its implications on the recommendations of the Tripartite Report.
- *Milestones*
Since the inauguration of the committee in March, 2025, we have successfully achieved the following milestones:
- Radio and TV engagements on the political implications of postponing the census enumeration by 1 year , from December 2025 to December 2026 , thereby rendering the use of the term Decennial Census inappropriate . These initial engagements have been so exciting and have largely exposed the weaknesses and inadequacies of Statistics Sierra Leone in conducting the census, as well as the implications on the political calendar as it relates to elections and other development agendas.
- Held a well-attended press conference last May on the postponement of the 2025 Population and Housing Census to 2026 which our development partners attended .
- Facilitated a fruitful meeting between the Chairman of Statistics Sierra Leone and the National Deputy Chairman of the APC Party at the Party Headquarters
- Obtained from Statistics Sierra Leone the opportunity to observe all census activities on to December , 2026 , including the cartographic mapping exercise which is now in progress .
- Conducted national training of observers/monitors and deployed same nationwide to monitor the ongoing cartographic mapping exercise and subsequently the enumeration
- Cascading the training and installation of the reporting template at regional level
- *Impact*
The committee has made a tremendous impact in the following ways:
- There is now growing awareness all over the country about the importance of a credible population and housing census among party stakeholders including flagbearer aspirants , our regional and district chairmen , our women , youths , veterans and party structures stakeholders all over the country .
- APC party Census education has improved at national level to promote participation in the 2026 census as against the 2021 Mid-Term census which we outrightly rejected for good reasons
- Due to our robust involvement , Statistics Sierra Leone going forward has now included our district stakeholders including paramount chiefs, parliamentarians, and local council authorities to nominate census field staff to be recruited to carry out crucial activities in the census process. We recognise and thank them for that .
- *The nexus between the census processes and outcomes and the recommendations of the Tripartite Committee*
The recommendations of the Tripartite Committee have a bearing on the census processes and outcomes that might affect the some key electoral activities.
*Recommendation 38(b)* of the tripartite agreement stipulated that a proviso to Section 38(5) should be inserted to provide that “*where the final report of a decennial census is published at or less than 24 months before a general election, the data collected from that census should not be used for purposes of delimiting boundaries for use at that general election*”
This recommendation has serious implications on the calendar of activities for the 2028 elections in the event that the census is postponed as it has happened in this case. The recommendation fell short of what measures could be adopted if the census is postponed for valid reasons as in the case of the 2014 Census which was postponed to 2015 due to the Ebola outbreak in the country.
It is clear that the government used the shortcoming of Recommendation 38 (b) to delay the proclamation and 6 months later announce a postponement of the 2025 Decennial Census to less than 24 months before the actual count. In our view and calculation, this was done in bad faith, and deliberately to affect the timing for preparatory activities. This was a calculated ploy, knowing that if the proclamation was delayed , there will not be enough time to carry out preparatory activities and hence, the possibility of postponing the census enumeration to 2026 and thereby delaying the release of results to 2027 which will be less than 24 months before elections. For the 2014 Census, the presidential proclamation was done in 2012 to give enough time for preparatory activities before the actual count and to release results early enough to undertake electoral activities that require census data such as constituency boundary delimitation.
- *Recommendations/position of the party
In the absence of the final 2026 census data less than 24months before the election , the following is recommended:
i). Use the projected population figures from the 2015 census to carry out constituency boundary delimitation. For the 2012 elections, the 2004 population figures were used to update constituency boundaries
ii). If the duration of the constituency boundary delimitation for the 2028 elections is 1 year, use the provisional results of the 2026 census that will be released in March 2027 to carry out boundary demarcation
iii). Include these recommendations in 38(b) of the Tripartite Report and promulgate same in draft legislation Parliament .
- iv) Apply the provisions of 38b, particularly the 24 months census data usage requirement it’s present form to the 2033 elections.
- *Conclusion*
I would like to conclude this statement by assuring you of our commitment in ensuring that the objectives of the party in establishing this committee are fully achieved. However, this commitment requires the full cooperation of the party leadership in providing the necessary support needed to carry out its extensive work which covers the entire country in the next 2 years, on to the December 2026 census and post enumeration activities.
Finally, let me state without hesitation that a credible census will confirm that the APC is in the majority in Sierra Leone and that Kenema is not and will never be more populated than the capital city , Freetown .
We will continuously communicate, educate and advocate with our party and our people to own the census.
We will leverage the success of the census activities for victory in the 2028 presidential and parliamentary elections.
I thank you for your attention
