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KAMPALA - The Government has decried the negative efforts by some households around Kampala City and Wakiso district to undermine the 2024 national population census agenda.

Presiding over the start of a nine-day induction of census trainers from all over the country at Speke Resort Munyonyo in Kampala on Thursday (April 5, 2024), Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) executive director Chris Mukiza condemned the releasing of dogs to pre-census enumerators yet they are not criminals.

Mukiza confirmed to the officials that at least two of his officials were bitten by dogs released on them in Wakiso.

“In Wakiso, two ‘listers/enumerators have already been bitten by dogs. These incidents I'm told are happening in the homes of big people including ministers, and army officers. The security of enumerators should be guaranteed to achieve accurate data that will help the Government’s effective planning efforts,” Mukiza said.

The revelation comes at a time when preparations for the May 9, 2024, census night are in high gear.

Mukiza, who called Wakiso district planner Paddy Galabuzi to stand up, said 150 villages in the district were yet to be listed/mapped.

We were left out initially 

However, the Wakiso district leadership has attributed this to being left out in the initial stages of the exercise.

Wakiso LC5 chairperson Matiya Lwanga Bwanika indicated, at first that there was a communication gap between the local leaders and UBOS co-ordination teams which resulted in some resistance and a few unpleasant incidents.

“But just recently, the executive director met us. We did not know many things because we could see them on WhatsApp and in the news, platforms. But now as we continue to sensitise and engage the public, all will be well,” he said in a phone interview with New Vision Online.

“The good thing is [that] they have their identification cards and we shall endeavour to push information about the census to all people through the structures of government," he added.

According to Bwanika, he had never heard of any information about census officials being bitten by dogs. He was, however, quick to note that it was not surprising given the fact that there was a lot of information gap.

A cross-section of participants, who attended a census officers' training at Speke Resort Munyonyo on April 5, 2024. (All Photos by Ronnie Kijjambu)

If it happened, it would not be shocking. It has been happening to utility operators of UMEME and national water. When people leave their homes to go and work, they leave behind strict instructions to home attendants not to let anybody in due to theft cases which are rampant in the district. Therefore, if someone comes without proper identification and is insisting on accessing the home, it is possible for a home attendant left behind to release dogs on such a person,” Bwanika said.

Preparations 

Meanwhile, in terms of general preparedness, UBOS indicated that the pre-census geo-mapping exercise across the country stood at 97.4% with some slow progress reported in Karamoja region.

He indicated that while villages in Moroto district had been 100% listed by Thursday, 29 villages in Abim, Kalenga 13, Kotindo 28, Amudat 39, Kabong 13, Kwania 14, Oyam 19 and three in Kole, had not yet been listed. He added that 57% of the villages in Napak were yet to be mapped.

Mukiza added that regions such as Bunyoro had already hit 100% in terms of mapping.
Geo-mapping is the process of taking location-based data and is a vital activity ahead of a major census event and it is done to increase accuracy.

The census exercise will run from May 9 (census night) to May 19.

“By April 12, 2024, we should be at 100% in terms of mapping so that we can finalise the budgets for the districts. In this census, we do not want estimates, estimation is not census, we want accurate data. By census night you must have listed every household and every village,” he said.

Transparency top on the agenda

He reiterated to the officials that this census will be more transparent than the past ones the country has since witnessed.

“The districts don’t expect what you did the other time and that is why we are not going to convey money to districts. The money will come by e-cash,” he said.

The training, he said, was meant to make them (district trainers) get accustomed to the tablets to be used in data entry and tabulation and the census questionnaire.

“You have the questionnaire already, please get used to it before you because from here you will train sub-county trainers. During these nine days, we should be able to understand key concepts. For instance, the information during the census should be gotten from the head of a household or any other knowledgeable member of the household,” Mukiza said.

He said the management of the exercise has been structured in the way that there is a national census commissioner (UBOS head), regional census commissioners to be deployed at regions, and district census commissioners, up to the village level, all acting on behalf of the national census commissioner.

The census will enable the Government to acquire critical statistical information, including the number of people in Uganda, for economic and social development planning and for administrative purposes. The National Population and Housing Census was last conducted in 2014.

At that time, the results indicated that Uganda had a population of 34 million people and while it is now estimated that there are 46 million people in the country, this can only be verified through a national census.