Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’ i ordered that bars should remain closed on the evenings that the national population counting exercise is set to take place. But Kenyans on Twitter were quick to react to the order, with some offering hilarious counter-arguments in support of keeping bars open.
According to a report on Capital News, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi now says bars will be closed on Saturday and Sunday during the national census.
Matiangi stated that the closure will take effect from 5 pm to 6 am on both Saturday and Sunday as Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) officials conduct the census. He urged the public to be at their residences so that everything can proceed smoothly.
Here are some of the most interesting reactions to the Matiang’ i census order:
Some have questioned Matiang’ i’s ability to make such orders based on the national constitution.
Good morning @FredMatiangi which part of the constitution gives you powers to close private legitimate business like bars and clubs during #census2019 ? Such pronouncements the reason Kenya is on the global picture on IMPUNITY & lack of RULE OF LAW ! Tragic !
— Rein (@Asamoh_) August 22, 2019
However, most are more concerned with how the ruling could curtail their very important weekend plans.
https://twitter.com/Chepkut_William/status/1164206481211834368
Mr Matiangi on Saturday Liverpool will be playing Arsenal. That match is bigger than Kenyan government and the census itself….if you don't allow us watch that game in clubs and go home by 9pm. Then we won't open our doors for ur people #census2019
— Iam wycliffe (@WycliffeIam) August 21, 2019
I heard on the day of #census2019 if you get arrested you won't be taken to a cell, utapelekwa home 🤣🤣
— Ibrahim Didish (@didish_ibrahim) August 21, 2019
READ: The Seven: Important details you need to know about the upcoming National census
But some have already begun to question the effectiveness of the national exercise. According to show information shared online, some areas lack the capabilities to carry out the very important exercise. Twitter pundit Robert Alai took to Twitter to share private messages from an enumerator Whatsapp group. In the screenshots shared, one unidentified individual noted that enumerators in Butere County lack reflectors, power bank, bags and chalk which are all essential to carry out the exercise. The individual wrote, “just poor coordination from the census county committee…is this how the government planned to take on the census…”
#Census2019 is going to be a joke. Someone took the money and used it. pic.twitter.com/QOnlReaHsi
— The Alai (@RobertAlai) August 21, 2019
The national counting exercise is a turning point in data gathering, that should improve service provision nationally. According to an earlier report on The Sauce Kenyans will be given the option to identify themselves as either male, female or intersex. According to KNBS, the inclusion of a third gender was a recommendation from the task force of Intersex Persons Society of Kenya (IPSK). “Getting information about intersex people in the census will help people understand the challenges we go through,” Ryan Muiruri, founder of the Intersex Persons Society of Kenya (IPSK), said.
As recently reported by The Sauce, the 2019 census will be the first to make use of technology. It will be a paperless process and will use mobile technology for Cartographic Mapping as well as Enumeration.
