By Aminata Phidelia Allie
Chairman and leader of the opposition Sierra Leone People's Party says the Statistician General was appointed to that position “purposely to manipulate the census data in favour of the ruling All People's Congress”.
Addressing journalists at his party offices yesterday, John Benjamin said Statistics Sierra Leone was operating illegality because “the Statistician General was catapulted to his position under dubious circumstances”. He was commenting on the ongoing demographic health survey and the pending 2014 housing and population census.
He said that for the past three years, Statistics Sierra Leone had operated without a board or a council which he said was contrary to the Act that established it, calling it “a grave concern” because the institution played a vital role in complementing the census advisory process.
Benjamin pointed out that such a process had been left “in the hands of an ineffective Statistician General whose appointment was never approved by parliament”.
A statement issued by the party alleges that the recruitment process at Statistics Sierra Leone is “flawed” and not done through genuine interviews and screening. It says that about 90 percent of the mapping staff are loyalists of the APC who don’t even speak the local dialects in the areas they are assigned to.
“We challenge the management of Statistics Sierra Leone to reproduce the list of mapping staff to prove us otherwise”, the release says.
The Acting Administrative and Human Resource Manager of Statistics Sierra Leone, Samuel Bangura declined to react to the allegations. He told Politico that they respond to them in a press release.
