President Kenyatta during the launch of the census exercise at the KICC on August 16, 2019. Photo/PSCU.
NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 17- President Uhuru Kenyatta has asked Kenyans to cooperate with enumerators so as to ensure a smooth census exercise.
The exercise will be held countrywide on August 24th and 25th, with an extension of 26th which was declared a public holiday to enable all Kenyans to take part.
“I urge all persons and households in Kenya to be ready from the night of August 24 2019, to welcome enumerators to their homes. They have been recruited from the localities from where they will be working, and will therefore, be familiar to the families they will be visiting,” the president said Friday at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), where he launched the countdown to the exercise.
Kenyatta who was the first to be counted, confirmed that the government through the Ministry of Interior and Cordinatiobal of National Government has taken all the necessary steps to ensure that the census will take place seamlessly and in a safe environment.
“All enumerators will be accompanied by uniformed security officers, and may be accompanied by community elders and leaders of residents associations,” said Kenyatta.
President Kenyatta underscored the importance of being counted, saying the census data will be used as a tool of monitoring and planning for key government services and activities. The last census was conducted in 2009.
The data will also be used on key constitutional provisions on equity and promotion of interest of marginalized and disadvantaged groups, which will ensure that all Kenyans will access opportunities in an equitable manner.
The 2019 Census is scheduled to begin on the night of August 24 and it will go on until the 31/Courtesy
“In the spirit of leaving no-one behind, for the first time in Kenyan history, the census shall feature a detailed focus on data of disadvantaged members of society, i.e. people living with disabilities, the orphaned and vulnerable children, the elderly and street children,” he said.
Mobile devices and accessories that will be used for the exercise have all been assembled locally by students from Moi University and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), creating employment opportunities for many young Kenyans.
Kenyatta said for the first time ever, the census will be captured digitally, hence increasing the accuracy of the data as well as easy to analyze.
“Digital data collection will ensure that census data will be secure and tamper-proof. The data collection exercise can be centrally monitored in real-time by an independent team of experts, and the veracity and probity of the census exercise can be easily established,” said Kenyatta.
Acting Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yattani said that all the necessary personnel and devices are in place to kick start the exercise.
“Personnel have been recruited and trained, all the kit are ready and have been delivered,” said Yattani.
The Chairman of the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) board Peter Kiragu assured Kenyans that the government will deliver a credible census.
In total, a team of 2467 ICT supervisors, 22,268 content supervisors and 138,372 enumerators will be deployed across the country.
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