The government of Uganda has set aside Shs89bn to pay the enumerators who will capture the data during the National Housing and Population Census 2024.
This was revealed Thursday by Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) Executive Director and Census Commissioner, Dr Chris Mukiza, during the National Population and Housing Census 2024 Prayer Breakfast Meeting held at Sheraton Hotel Kampala.
The meeting was part of the ongoing UBOS’s publicity and sensitization activities which are aimed at creating awareness among the public about the forthcoming Census.
“Yesterday, I was asked whether the enumerators will not complain after when we have not paid them. I can assure you that they will be paid,” said Dr Mukiza.
“The government has set aside Shs89bn to pay the enumerators after doing their work. And we have it. We will pay them directly on their mobile money numbers,” he noted.
Dr Mukiza also informed religious leaders that he had already received all the required tablets in the country.
“Those tablets cost Shs141bn and the software were uploading on them cost about Shs11bn. And we already know how we will use them after the census.”
He cautioned those who will use the tablets to handle them with care and reminded the public that census is authorised by an act of Parliament and thus sabotaging it in any way is criminal.
Identifying enumerators
Dr Mukiza said that for the purpose of identification, the census enumerators will have tags with a QR code.
“They will identify themselves and ask questions that should be answered truthfully for us to gather the right data.”
The National Population and Housing Census (NPHC) 2024 is organised, planned and implemented by the Bureau as specified in the Plan for National Statistical Development (PNSD).
“Being the Executive Director (ED) I’m also the Census Commissioner (CC) and I have the overall operational responsibility for the NPHC 2024 activities; coordinating with the Cabinet, Parliament, the National Census Council, the census steering committee, Development Partners and external stakeholders,” stated Dr Mukiza.
He said the overall objective of the census is to provide benchmark information on the spatial population distribution, age and sex structure, as well as other key socio-economic and demographic characteristics.
CAPI Tablets
“I am happy to inform you that the Bureau has advanced in data collection and is moving away from using printed questionnaires to using the Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) system.”
In this system, according to Dr Mukiza, all information is directly recorded on tablet Personal Computers which also takes record of the Geographic Positioning System (GPS) coordinates to ensure that the needed data is corrected accurately.
He said the use of CAPI tablets will help ease the data collection process and timely transmission of the collected data to the servers at the central data processing centre managed by the Bureau.
“To ensure a successful Census, the Bureau embarked on a multi-approach of working with various stakeholders including Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), the Media, Religious Leaders, Civil Society Organisations, Local Governments, Researchers, Imminent Persons among others during planning and implementation of the census.”
He said it was upon this background, that religious leaders were identified as a critical and important partner identified by the Census Commissioner to assist in ensuring a holistic Census design and implementation program.
“Your major responsibility will be to; publicize the Census during congregations and fellowships, publicize the census on the respective radio, television and social media appearances and provide qualitative evaluation of the Census implementation on an on-going basis.”
He said publicity is yet another critical aspect for the success of Census 2024 and thus religious leaders play a critical role towards influencing the mindset of their followers.
“I thus implore you to popularize the Census 2024 objectives and slogan “It Matters to be Counted” as well as demystifying negative publicity and propaganda through pro-actively championing positive mindset change whenever we engage with your respective constituents.”
