The Mayor of Freetown, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, is calling on the government and Statistics Sierra Leone to take urgent steps to ensure that the 2026 national census is conducted on time.
She made the call after attending a press conference organised by the All People’s Congress (APC) Official 2023 Technical Census Committee. The committee raised concerns about delays in the preparation process.
The national census, which is meant to take place every ten years, has already been postponed once. Mayor Aki-Sawyerr said the country needs reliable population data to draw fair electoral boundaries and to support planning and development across the country.
“There is no clarity about the process, and timelines are already slipping,” she posted on social media. “Government and Statistics SL must now provide a realistic, transparent and funded roadmap to the conduct of the constitutionally required December 2026 decennial census.”
Her statement comes as many people raise questions about whether the census will be ready in time to inform the 2028 elections. Without up-to-date population figures, there are fears that electoral boundaries may not reflect the current distribution of people across the country.
So far, the government has not released an updated timeline or roadmap. The 2026 census is expected to play an important role in shaping key national decisions.