The Uganda Bureau of Statistics (Ubos) has said it is considering extending the National Population and Housing Census exercise following complaints that a large number of the population was not enumerated.
Speaking to the media at Ubos headquarters in Kampala yesterday, Ubos executive director Chris Mukiza said that by the end of the census exercise on May 26, the overall enumeration coverage was at 99 percent.
The bureau had a target of 10.47 million households to cover for the 2024 census exercise.
Dr Mukiza attributed the remaining one percent of the unenumerated population to failure to access their premises, working single household members; hence, nobody is left home, as well as those who refused to be counted.
However, Dr. Mukiza was not specific about the new deadline. He said the bureau will, by Friday, have reviewed all the complaints on a case-by-case basis to determine the period of the extension.
“We know those who refused to open their gates for the enumerators. You see, with this system we have, you fail to open for the enumerator, it is recorded. We have a cocktail of data because these tablets have GPS, so everyone who refused to open for the enumerators, we can’t come back to your premises,” Dr. Mukiza said.
He explained that the most affected population is in Kampala, and that the bureau will send its staff to enumerate the affected people since the hired enumerators have concluded their work.
“For those whom the enumerators skipped, we shall go back to them within this week. I have prepared all the vehicles. It is going to be done by our people, the enumerators finished their work last Sunday, so no enumerator should be told to go and work, they have finished their job,” he said.
Earlier extension
This will be the second time Ubos is extending the deadline for the census. Originally, the exercise was supposed to take 10 days, from May 10 to May 19.
However, the deadline was extended for six days up to May 26, following complaints that in some areas, the exercise did not start on the initial date due to technical challenges faced by the enumerators.
Mr Mukiza explained that according to the UN recommendation for conducting a population census, fieldwork should not go beyond 30 days. He said the bureau will not violate this recommendation.
According to Ubos, by May 26, the data collected indicates that there is a significant increase in the number of households and a decrease in the household size.
“Many of these households, especially in Greater Kampala, are one-person households. There are so many single and two-bedroom households and that is why the household size has significantly reduced,” Mr. Mukiza said.
He said the bureau is committed to the census road map and will release the preliminary results of the exercise on June 24, provisional results on September 24 and the final report on December 24.
