An abrupt decision by the government of Liberia to cancel Tuesday's much-delayed national housing and population census has sparked public anger and
An abrupt decision by the government of Liberia to cancel Tuesday’s much-delayed national housing and population census has sparked public anger and confusion.
Constitutionally, the census should have been held in 2018, but it has been postponed at least six times by President George Weah’s government.
Mr Weah – who left the country on 31 October for official travel and is expected to be away for at least a month – issued a last-minute proclamation on Tuesday declaring 11 November as the new official start date for the census.
By law, the outcome of the census should inform the electoral body on how to distribute electoral constituencies ahead of the general elections, the next one is set to be held in October 2023.
Meanwhile, some of the more than 70,000 people recruited and deployed as census enumerators across the country have staged protests demanding their stipends.
They were promised $5 (£3) a day, which many had complained the amount was very little, during their stay for pre-census training exercises.
On Monday, hundreds of them blocked roads in the second city of Buchanan.
Broadcasts on rural radio stations on Tuesday have been dominated by complaints from the enumerators about how they were being “unfairly” treated.
But officials at the Liberia Institute for Statistics and Geo-Information Services, the body responsible for the conduct of the census, have blamed logistical challenges for the confusion and promised to pay the enumerators.
BBC Africa
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