By: Amadu Wurie Timbo
President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, His Excellency Retired Brigadier Julius Maada Bio, has said that the country’s upcoming 2026 National Population and Housing Census must be conducted with absolute integrity, describing an accurate population count as a critical foundation for democratic governance and economic planning.
President Bio made the remarks while delivering his address at the State Opening of the Fourth Session of the Sixth Parliament at Tower Hill in Freetown, where he emphasised that the upcoming census must leave no citizen uncounted and called on state agencies and statistical authorities to ensure a credible process.
“The 2026 Census must be credible and inclusive,” President Bio told lawmakers and local and international dignitaries gathered at the Parliament Building on Friday, August 7, 2026.
President Bio’s address comes at a pivotal stage as Statistics Sierra Leone, led by Statistician-General Andrew Bob Johnny, intensifies preparations to conduct the country’s first fully digital census in December 2026, with support from the Government of Sierra Leone, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and other development partners.
Against the backdrop of political scrutiny that has surrounded previous census exercises over demographic representation and the distribution of national resources, President Bio stressed the importance of reliable population data.
In his address, delivered under what he described as a “Year of Action and Accelerated Delivery,” the President said reliable data is essential to ensuring equitable public investment in schools, hospitals, agricultural expansion and infrastructure.
The census is expected to provide critical demographic information to support government planning and help ensure that communities receive an equitable share of national resources and public services.
Statistics Sierra Leone is deploying advanced satellite imagery and digital cartographic technology for the $37.5 million exercise. Preparations include pilot exercises across selected urban and rural areas to assess technical readiness ahead of the main enumeration scheduled for December.
The 2026 census is also expected to provide development partners with updated demographic data for designing and assessing social intervention programmes and supporting the country’s economic development priorities.
By calling for an inclusive process before Parliament, President Bio urged civil society organisations, local authorities, opposition parties and other stakeholders to support the enumeration exercise as a matter of national interest.
As Sierra Leone enters the final phase of preparations, the government maintains that a transparent and widely accepted population count will be indispensable for effective development planning and monitoring progress under the country’s Medium-Term National Development Plan.