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The government will pay census workers only through mobile money numbers and national identification numbers (NIN). This is in a bid to eliminate the risk of corruption and payment to ghosts.  

Dr Chris Mukiza, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) executive director, confirmed the development, adding that all people’s submitted numbers not registered in their names risk losing out on pay.

“We are paying directly [into workers’ mobile money accounts], not through intermediaries. If you have done the work and we have identified that this is the person who worked, with this ID and telephone number, then we pay you. But if you presented a mobile number in the name of, say your mother or some other person, we shall not pay you. You will have worked for free,” he said.

He said they have been emphasising this through the media, and that they are not about to change.

Mukiza added that they have all the money to pay all enumerators and supervisors and that this will be done immediately when they finish work.

He said all enumerators and supervisors must hand over items of government, including tablets that will be used during the census.

“You cannot keep the tablet because that is government property. It is a crime and a scene,” he said.   

He made the revelation during a consultation meeting between over 500 religious leaders and the Uganda Bureau of Statistics about the upcoming national census, which is set to start on May 9.

Uganda conducted the first census in 1948 and since then the population has been growing, and estimates revealed last December put Uganda's population at 46 million.

The census exercise is therefore geared at giving the country accurate data to help inform help in planning and other requirements.

Mukiza said they expect to take a minimum of 10 days to gather data from the field. He said, however, that if there's any pending work, this period will be further extended.

"We want to ensure that every Ugandan is counted,” he said.