Monrovia — "Stand up and be counted," say the posters, banners and fliers being distributed for Liberia's first census in 24 years.
The census, which is being run by the Liberian Institute for Statistics and Geo Information Services (LISGIS), is expected to kick off on Friday March 21, which has been declared a national holiday.
No census has been undertaken since 1984. According to government officials, this year's exercise will give accurate statistics that are vital for developmental purposes.
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who appears in a radio advertisement for the census, has emphasized the need for people to give accurate information to the enumerators. She has said the census will provide indicators for the national government to use in planning its poverty reduction drive.
The census will solicit information ranging from details of births and deaths to the number of people in a household, their belongings and farm ownership.
In recent years, Liberians have relied on statistics from United Nations agencies and other related international organizations. These have estimated the population at between three and 3.5 million. They have also put the unemployment and illiteracy rate at 85 percent, but such rates have been imprecise.
It is hoped that this year's National Population and Housing Census will give a clearer and more comprehensive picture.
Preparations for this long-awaited national exercise have been continuing for several weeks now, with LISGIS recruiting thousands of people to do the counting. Young men and women have been trooping into the LISGIS Monrovia office in search of jobs as enumerators and supervisors.
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There have, however, been some problems around the census.
Thousands of people recruited to carry out the actual counting have been protesting their remuneration across the country in recent days. They say each enumerator is expected to visit 80 to 120 households a day, and that the U.S. $10 they have been promised to do this is too little.
Dr Edward Liberty, the head of LISGIS, was heckled by some enumerators at a training center where he was trying to resolve a disagreement.
He said LISGIS has not received all the funds it expected and cannot meet the high expectations of the enumerators. He added that those wanting jobs should either accept or reject the work.
With two days to go before counting begins, the protests appear to have quieted down. But observers are concerned that what LISGIS is playing down as a brief obstruction has the potential to explode during the week-long count if not addressed properly.
