4th Infantry Brigade, Makeni Main Lorry Park, and Other Bombali Localities Welcome Cartographic Mapping Awareness

On Wednesday, November 12, 2025, senior and junior personnel of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) attached to the 4th Infantry Brigade at Teko Barracks in Makeni, Bombali District, received Statistics Sierra Leone’s cartographic mapping awareness message through a loud-hailer vehicle publicity exercise.

With express permission granted by the Brigade leadership, who was unavoidably absent, through Lieutenant Timothy Amos Saffa, I conveyed appreciation to the officers, introduced myself as the Northern Regional Publicity Officer (RPO) for the 2026 National Population and Housing Census, and extended warm greetings from the leadership and management of Statistics Sierra Leone and its partners.

During the engagement, I presented two adhesive posters to Lieutenant Saffa for onward submission to the Brigade Commander and Battalion Commander, to be displayed in their office premises as part of the awareness drive.

I explained to the gallant officers, their relatives, and other residents in the Phase One and Phase Two quarters of the brigade that Statistics Sierra Leone commenced the first critical stage of the 2026 Census, the nationwide cartographic mapping exercise, on October 14, 2025, which is still ongoing until every locality in Sierra is being mapped successfully.

The ongoing catographic mapping which simply means the counting of structures and landmark is done in phases, it basically, involves the careful counting and identification of structures and landmarks such as houses, schools, markets, religious centers, and sports facilities, among others across all localities in Sierra Leone. 

I further emphasized that the management and partners of Statistics Sierra Leone are committed to ensuring an inclusive and credible census in December 2026. Hence, the preparatory work, including the ongoing mapping exercise across all districts, including the four Northern Region districts of Bombali, Falaba, Koinadugu, and Tonkolili, is crucial in setting the stage for the main census.

The officers and their families expressed appreciation for the engagement. They commended Statistics Sierra Leone for reaching out directly to the military community through this awareness initiative.

 In response to the messaging received on the day, Lieutenant Timothy Amos Saffa said: "This is the first time such robust publicity has been carried out by Statistics Sierra Leone in our barracks. Although we’ve been following discussions on the radio and reading news reports about the mapping exercise, we’re very excited to receive the message directly. We promise to cascade it and cooperate with your teams whenever they come to our barracks to count our structures."

The day’s outreach, enhanced by the Communications and Public Relations Directorate of Statistics Sierra Leone with support from the Government of Sierra Leone, UNFPA, and Irish Aid continued across key locations around Teko Barracks, including religious houses, schools, business centers, and major streets such as Teko Road, Magburaka Road, Agricultural Road, Azzolini Highway, NP Lorry Park, Lady’s Mile, Peter Lane, Thoranka Street Junction, Sembu Thoranka Street, Gada Lane, Moyamba Junction, Michael Street, Compound Street, and Station Road through the Makeni City Council, as well as the Central Business District, the Clock Tower, and the Main Lorry Park at Rogbaneh.

The recent community outreach marked Day One of Week Five of the eight-week public awareness campaign through the loudhailer vehicle initiative. 

It will however, continues on Thursday, November 13, across other localities in and around Makeni, with Stocco Junction, Masongbo, Makarie, and Panlap identified as key strategic communities where similar door to door cartographic mapping awareness and community engagement will be rolled out.

©: RPO, Statistics Sierra Leone's Communications and Public Relations Department.