UBOS extends census by six more days

Statistics body, UBOS has announced the extension of the national housing and population census by six more days until May, 25.

In a statement on Saturday, UBOS Executive Director, Dr.Chris Mukiza said whereas the exercise was officially set to end today, Sunday, May, 19, there was need to extend the exercise, taking into consideration the technical glitches at the start.

“As a result, such areas have been given an opportunity to continue with the enumeration until they complete their assignments. This waiver (for mopping up) shall, however, not exceed May 25, 2024. During this period, supervisors should ensure complete coverage and quality assurance,”Dr.Mukiza said.

Glitches

The first day of the census saw a number of glitches including tablets refusing to work while in other areas, there was no internet connection.

Also, a number of people complained of not having been enumerated on the opening day of the census which was a public holiday.

A number of enumerators also complained of not having been paid their allowances for the nine days of training they attended, while others complained of the discrepancy between the amount they are supposed to get per day during the enumeration exercise.

Whereas UBOS had told the enumerators were supposed to get shs50,000 per day to make it shs500,000 for the 10 days, their appointment letters indicated shs50,000 for all the 10 days.

This state of affairs saw enumerators lay down tools until this anomality was rectified.

Many other issues came up as the census exercise started.

In his communication, the UBOS Executive Director said there was many other challenges that could not allow the enumeration exercise start in time in many parts of the country.

“There are also hard-to-reach areas where enumeration was constrained, making the pace of enumeration slow. You may recall that the login challenges were resolved within a period of one to four days. In addition, management developed generic logins for villages to enable work to begin, which became effective on the 4th day.”

He said to put up for time lost during these glitches, it was only prudent that the exercise is extended.

Dr.Mukiza has since written to Chief Administrative Officers (CAOs), city clerks, the KCCA Executive Director, and municipal town clerks informing them of the extension.