Non of 17,000 enumerators hired for the job turn out for counting because of a dispute over their fees.
There was also a last-minute disagreement between top officials of the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services – it’s head insists preparations are complete, but another senior official in charge of statistics disagrees, and warns that any attempt at premature counting will not be accurate or credible.
In their confusion, people in rural places have been phoning others in Monrovia to find out if the census will actually happen.
Liberian President George Weah is out of Liberia for more than 6 weeks to attend officials events including watching his son, Timothy, play for the U.S. side in the football World Cup in Qatar and he is under heavy criticism for not staying at home himself for the census and setting an example to others.
The spokesman for president Weah said he has already been counted prior to his departure from the country.
Some lawmakers had suggested a postponement of the event to allow for more adequate preparation, but this wasn’t considered.
The Liberian constitution calls for a census to be conducted every 10 years. The results are needed to define electoral constituencies for the 2023 general election.
Census extended to January 15,2023
Meanwhile the Liberian Legislature has passed a joint resolution 003/2022, authorizing the Executive Branch to extend the conduct of the National census from November 7, 2022 up to January 15, 2023.
According to a post on the House of Representatives page,the plenary of both houses took the decision last evening to afford the appropriate authority to ensure adequate preparation.
According to a press release from the Legislature, the Executive Branch of the Government of the Republic of Liberia is hereby authorized to immediately proceed with all activities leading to the conduct of the National Census following the passage of the Joint Resolution #003/2022.
Meanwhile, the Honorable House of Representatives has appropriated an additional amount of US$200,000 to LISGIS to address the current challenges that body is faced with.
