CHERICOCO SOUNDS ELECTION ALARM

By Arthur E. Pearce
Hon. Chernor Ramadan Maju Bah, popularly known as “Chericoco”, has urged the All People’s Congress (APC) to take census preparation and monitoring seriously, warning that the groundwork for electoral success must be laid long before polling day.
Speaking at the launch of the Western District Census Committee, Bah put careful planning, reliable data and technical oversight at the centre of the party’s preparations for the 2028 elections.
“Elections are not won on election day,” he said, stressing the importance of sustained organisation and proper monitoring.
Giving his account of the committee’s origins, Bah said the initiative was first discussed in his own parlour before he took it to the party leadership.
He explained that he brought together three stakeholders with backgrounds in statistics and monitoring, then presented them to Hon. Minkailu Mansaray and Hon. Alhaji Osman Yansaneh. The three stakeholders were not named in the account.
That process, Bah said, led to the formation of the party’s Census Committee.
Bah linked his push for the initiative to concerns about the previous census and the subsequent use of its figures in the last election. The APC continues to dispute the 2023 election outcome. The account supplied for this report also refers to concerns raised by local and international observers, but does not identify the observer organisations or specify their findings.
Bah’s message was that the party must give census participation the attention it deserves, with effective monitoring and reliable data forming a central part of its preparations for 2028.
Bah congratulated Hon. Balogun Koroma, popularly known as “Logus”, on his appointment as Census Chairman and called for a robust Technical and Monitoring Committee under his leadership.
He stressed that the committee’s importance must not be underestimated and urged the APC to approach the exercise with seriousness and sound organisation.
An aspiring APC candidate and prominent opposition figure, Bah described census engagement as one of several priorities confronting the party.
His central message: the work towards 2028 begins well before voters reach the ballot box.