Census count on June 17

AN additional K123 million is needed to conduct the 2024 National Population Census, scheduled for June.
Revealing the shortfall, Administrative Services Minister Richard Masere said all preparations had been finalised.
He did not say when the K123-million deficit would be resolved.
He said the census budget committed by the Government was K200 million, of which K75 million had already been received.
Masere said last year, only K35 million was received from a K50 million allocation.
Prime Minister James Marape is set to launch the census next Wednesday, with the reference night scheduled for June 16. Actual counting would start on June 17.
Masere said the recruitment of master trainers begun at the National Statistical Office (NSO) headquarters this month while the recruitment of enumerators, encoders, monitors and supervisors would take place next month.
More than 700 persons across the country have received certificates of participation on data literacy including awareness on census visibility materials.
Masere yesterday appealed to all members of Parliament and stakeholders to unite and ensure the success of this national event.
He urged leaders not to use the census to confuse and mislead people to score political points and/or to serve their own vested interests.
Minister Masere was responding to claims by Hiri-Koiari MP Keith Idudu that preparation for this year’s census was lacking.
“The NSO has done a lot for preparatory work leading up to the actual date of enumeration on June 16,” he said.
“NSO is capitalising on available funding to maximise important areas in awareness, recruitment, procurement, logistics, training and the use of computer-assisted personal interviews (Capi) to conduct the census successfully.”
Masere said publicity through the print and electronic media was ongoing, with talkback shows on radio, using the social media, and through the distribution of census visibility materials.
Meanwhile, Planning and Monitoring deputy secretary Michael Kumung had also called for a collaborative effort to ensure a successful census.
“It is a must that we deliver this census to verify our population figure which will allow for effective planning and resource allocation,” he said.
“Knowing the population is critical for service delivery and improvement,” Kumung said.
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) representative Saira Shameem said technical support would be made available to all government agencies involved in the census, particularly NSO.
“UNFPA’s contribution towards the process has been to take leadership from NSO and Department of National Planning and Monitoring to provide technical assistance, particularly in quality assurance.
“Together with NSO, we have grown and learnt from the lessons of the past in order to position us to deliver a good census for the development of the country,” she said.
“Tablets will be used to ensure that there is more accurate documentation of the data and quicker results of the census are produced. There are steps that will be taken to ensure the census provides high quality and accurate data for the purposes of planning and guiding the Government in terms of its development plans,” Shameem said.