The
Director of Media and External Relation who also doubles as the spokesperson of
the National Electoral Commission (NEC), Albert Massaquoi has said that with
the Provisional Census result out the Commission will go ahead with the
Boundary Delimitation process which they had started.
In an
interview with Awoko on Tuesday, Massaquoi disclosed that the Constitution
authorizes Statistics Sierra Leone to provide census data for NEC for the
Commission to be able to use for the conduct of Boundary Delimitation for
Constituencies and Wards, and that even before the official release of the
result, NEC has been working on the delimitation of boundaries
The NEC
Spokesperson further stated that NEC and Statistics Sierra Leone sat together
at the policy level and drew the timeline which they factored into the NEC
strategic plan and therefore they are aware of the fact that by “the end of March
the provisional figures would have been out and this is what we will use for
the Boundary delimitation”.
Albert Massaquoi further
informed this medium that NEC has been doing preliminary work on the Boundary
Delimitation as Statistics has trained NEC staff on constituency and ward
boundary delimitation and also the developing of the maps and that this was
done for national but training will also be done for staff in the districts.
He added that NEC has also
formed the Boundary Delimitation Monitoring Committee for the national level
and within the next couple of weeks they will do the same for the districts,
stating that the whole Boundary Delimitation process will be a back and forth
process as this will involve lot of engagement and consultations with
stakeholders at District, Constituencies and Ward levels.
Questioned
as to the number of constituencies and wards to be delimited, the External
Relations Director said there are certain factors they take into consideration
when delimiting boundaries and these includes population which is the prime
factor, geographical locations and means of communication, and data for the
Boundary Delimitation is provided by Statistics Sierra Leone. He further
disclosed that for the number of constituencies, this will be determined by
parliament as that “is Parliamentary prescription”.
He said people may have
concerns or issues but, however NEC has the mandate to conduct elections and
Boundary Delimitation is part of the process therefore they will have to
proceed with the process that has already began.
Source: Sierraloaded
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