Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) will on Thursday night May 9, 2024, take a snapshot picture of who will be and what will be happening in the country, according to the Executive Director and Census Commissioner, Dr Chris Mukiza.
“The Census Night is on the 9th of May. That night is an important day,” said Dr Mukiza while briefing the Kyabazinga of Busoga Kingdom, His Majesty Kyabazinga William Wilberforce Kadhumbula Nadiope, at his Igenge Palace in Jinja City on Monday.
Dr Mukiza told the Kyabazinga that the National Housing and Population Census 2024 will take place on the 10th of May which is Friday.
“Census Night is that reference night where all questions will be given to respondents. We will be asking who stayed in this household on the census night,” he explained.
“Even if we come to your household in 10 days, our question will still be about the census night and who stayed in your household on that night.”
He said that if a baby is born on the morning of May 10, that person will not be counted because he/she was not living during that night (census night).
However, if a person passes away on the morning of May 10, that person will be counted because he/she existed during the census night.
“So, we are taking a snapshot picture of what is happening in the country on the 9th of May that is the night of Thursday. And that concept is important,” he emphasised.
According to Dr Mukiza, the first day of enumeration was declared a public holiday so that UBOS could enumerate as many households as possible.
“When I come three or four days later, you should remember the night before the public holiday. So, Your Majesty, the government has granted the people of Uganda (and your kingdom) a public holiday so that you can stay at home and respond to our questions.”
Only five questions
Dr Mukiza clarified media reports alleging that the UBOS questionnaire is too big and will consume a lot of time for the respondents.
“The questions are only five. We have only five questions but may ask other subsidiary questions to probe,” he clarified.
The first question is about how many people are in the country by age, sex, and religion and this time we want to also capture clans.
“We shall be capturing the clans for the first time to know who we are related to,” noted Dr Mukiza.
The second question is about where these people are. These are statistics on the distribution of people across the country, regions, districts etc.
“It is important to know where people are so that anybody giving services in your kingdom should know how to allocate resources.”
The third question is about how those people are living; their living standards, the conditions of their houses and so forth.
The fourth question is about what those households own, the assets.
“To know by which means these households access information on government programs or religious or cultural institutions so that they are not left out,” noted the Census Commissioner.
He added: “So, we want to know whether you have a radio, a television set, a telephone or whether you get information by word of mouth (communication means). We want to know whether you have a bicycle, motorcycle or vehicle that is transport means to access services.”
The fifth question is about where those households get services from; any social service e.g. school, health facility, courts of law, water and sanitation and so forth.
Identifying enumerators
“After we have gotten the answers, the country will get rich data and statistics to inform their decision-making,” explained Dr Mukiza.
He said after training, UBOS will give the enumerators one day of the 9th of May to get accustomed to the environment where they will be deployed. “Enumeration will be during the daytime, we don’t want people to come and knock on your houses at night,” he clarified.
“Every enumerator will have an identification and a name tag. We have put there a QR code so that the identification tag is not forged
While addressing journalists at Police Headquarters in Naguru, the Chairman Board of Directors (UBOS), Albert Byamugisha, urged the citizens to stay home this coming Friday, since it is a day marked as a public holiday, to facilitate the enumerators in performing the national census task.
