Man arrested for blocking enumeration exercise

By Hudson Apunyo

LIRA – A peasant farmer is in police custody in Lira district for allegedly interrupting the ongoing national population and housing census.

James Olyet, 37, a resident of Anyomorem Parish in Ngetta sub-county, was picked by police Sunday morning from his home after he reportedly obstructed an enumerator from carrying out his duties in the area the previous evening.

He is said to have tried to confiscate the register from the enumerator.

Eric Ogwete, the area census supervisor, said his staff Acak Ronald Walter was obstructed from doing his work by Olyet, who was reportedly drunk at the time.

The supervisor said the enumerators are facing difficulty with drunken people in the parishes of Ongura and Anyomorem, singling out Akwia Woro ‘A’ and ‘B’ and Bangobango Moko (BBM) as the most notorious villages.

Meanwhile, the area police said they are compiling a file to take the suspect (James Olyet) to court on charges of obstructing an officer on duty and threatening violence.

Inspector of Police (IP) Tom Innocent, the officer-in-charge at Ngetta Police Station, said that at the time of arrest, the suspect was drinking enguli (a local potent gin).

Two enumerators sacked

On his part, the suspect, who appeared to have been frustrated by such official exercises, said that he had previously registered on two separate occasions for a mosquito net and seeds but never got anything.

That experience, he said, infuriated him when he found the enumerator at work.

Elsewhere in Lira Municipality, a man had initially refused to be counted, saying his son had not been offered a job. It was only until the intervention of the assistant district census officer and in charge of the municipality, Okello Ayini Denis that the man finally relented and agreed to be enumerated.

Lira district census officer Omoo Henry said the exercise is going on well except for two enumerators who he said have been sacked for failing to adhere to the methods of data collection.

“They have been promptly replaced with reserve enumerators and the exercise is going on smoothly,” he said.

The ten-day exercise started on Thursday and is scheduled to end this Saturday (September 6).