The Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) has assured census personnel who have not yet received payment for their services rendered during the 2024 National Population and Housing Census, that they will be paid without fail.
UBOS Executive Director and Census Commissioner, Dr Chris Mukiza, said the Census Personnel have so far been paid Shs88.7bn through the E-Cash platform.
“In this case, money goes directly to the final beneficiary,” said Dr Mukiza while addressing the press at Statistics House in Kampala on Thursday.
He added: “Out of the 115,846 Enumerators, a total of 114,327 (98.7%) have so far been paid all their entitlement whereas 1,519 are yet to be paid.”
Dr Mukiza cited three reasons for non-payment namely; mismatch where the name of the beneficiary does not correspond with the name on the registered mobile number, loss of Census equipment (tablet, power bank with their accessories) and the name not being submitted by the Accounting Officers of their respective Local Governments.
He said a total of 112,970 Field Guides participated in the Census enumeration and 109,730 (97.1%) have been paid whereas 3,240 have not been paid yet owing to mismatch.
There were 14,643 Enumeration Supervisors of which 13,272 have been paid, and 1,371 are yet to be paid pending correction of their details.
Out of 4,713 Sub-County Supervisors, a total of 4,686 (99.4%) have been paid and only 120 are yet to be paid.
“District Officials; The Local Government Officials involved in Census 2024 were Chief Administrative Officers (CAO), District Chairpersons (LCV), Resident District Commissioners (RDC), Resident City Commissioners (RCC), District Police Commanders (DPC), and District Internal Security Officers (DISO), District Census Officer (DCO), Assistant District Census Officer (ADCO), District Internal Auditor, and District Information Technology Officer (DITO) totalling 1,635. Payment for this category was phased such that the Enumeration staff were paid first. So far 912 (55.78%) have been paid and 663 are to be paid in the month of August 2024,” Dr Mukiza revealed.
He said all service providers for Census 2024 had been paid except for those whose account numbers submitted were wrong. “These have been requested to re-submit the right account details.”
Tablets and power banks used in Census enumeration
The Bureau deployed 122,026 tablets during Census enumeration. So far, 121, 197 (99.3%) tablets have been retrieved from the Districts/ Cities, whereas, 829 are yet to be retrieved.
“119,418 power banks were sent into the field and 107,685 (90.2%) have been retrieved so far. 11,733 are yet to be retrieved.”
“The Uganda Bureau of Statistics would like to assure the public especially those who have not received their payments that all efforts are being put towards ensuring that everyone is paid,” said Dr Mukiza.
He added: “We are working closely with officials of the Local Government especially the Districts and Cities to ensure that the pending field participants are all cleared for payment. The Bureau would like to emphasize that all participants in the Census enumeration will receive their entitlements directly through Mobile Money or a Bank Account presented in one’s individual name.”