NAIROBI, Kenya, May 2 – The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is targeting 34,510 respondents in a telephonic survey on the socioeconomic impact of coronavirus on households and individuals in the country.
The bureau in a statement on Saturday said that the randomly select several individuals will be picked from all the 47 counties in the survey set to commence on Saturday, May 2.
KNBS Managing Director General Zachary Mwangi told Capital FM News the survey will cover the demand of basic needs in a household during the pandemic period.
“We are going to focus on issues on food, awareness of the disease which will be a phone interview on selected individuals,” said Mwangi.
The statistics agency appealed to Kenyans who will be contacted to provide accurate information.
“We hereby request all Kenyans selected in this survey to cooperate and provide accurate information as requested, the information given through this survey will be treated with strict confidentiality as provided for in the Statistics Act 2006,” the agency said in a statement.
KNBS will interview the selected individuals twice in a period of a month.
This comes at a time when the economy has slowed down owing to the pandemic which has taken a toll of many Kenyans now struggling to even provide for their basic needs.
An estimated 136,000 people living in urban centers have lost their jobs while others have received pay cuts, and some sent home on unpaid leave.
President Uhuru Kenyatta Friday said the number of people who would have lost jobs in the next six months could rise to 500,000.
“We cannot relax in our efforts to conquer this invisible enemy and to put our economy on a strong growth path. Because, if we do not, we could lose upwards of half a million jobs over the next 6 months. We must do whatever it takes to minimize, if not to fully contain such loss in jobs,” President Uhuru Kenyatta said in his addressing to the nation on Labor Day.
Consequently, he urged all sectors to join hands in containing the pandemic while asking Kenyans to support local products to ensure the economy survives the pandemic.
The Central Bank Of Kenya last week forecast a 2.3 per cent economic growth this year, down from 3.4 per cent projected in March.
About The Author
