Thank you fellow Kenyans, for your continued cooperation and participation in the Big Count.
The progress so far is encouraging, and we are confident that the Count will have registered universal coverage by Saturday, 31st August 2019.
We are now on the home stretch. We still have three more days left
– the rest of today, tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday. This translates to 72 hrs count down for today.
We appreciate our enumerators, who have been on their feet for hours each day to count us. They are on their way to you.
Call back card
There are many of us who live alone, and spend long periods away from their homes.
For such populations, enumerators will leave Call Back Card on which they will write their phone numbers and other relevant information and slip it under the door.
Please use this card to book an appointment with the enumerator for them to come to you when you are available.
Security
Security agencies continue to maintain law and order across the country for the duration of the Census, and beyond.
So far, a number of people who have run afoul of the law have been apprehended and arraigned in court.
Kenyans are urged to be vigilant and report any cases of criminal activity to the Census Toll Free Hotline:0800221020
The regular police emergency lines can also be used: 999; 112; 911
Cooperation with Enumerators
We once gain thank Kenyans for receiving the Census enumerators and for taking the time to respond to their questions. This has enabled the process to go on smoothly.
However, there have been reports of cases where heads of households have been hostile to enumerators or refused to be counted.
This is an offence, and contrary to the provisions of the Statistics Act, 2016. If convicted, the law provides for a jail term of six months or a fine of Kshs.500,000 or both.
Census extension
We have received enquiries as to whether the enumeration period will be extended.
In our case, the census period has been seven days with the night of 24/25 August as the reference night. This is ample time for the exercise to be adequately implemented.
In addition, the date for opening of schools was pushed back by one week in order to ensure that teachers and students would be at home for the count.
There will be no extension.
Extraneous allowances
All village elders, chiefs and sub-chiefs including administrative officials who participated in the census exercise will be facilitated.
USES OF THE CENSUS DATA
Kenya is one of the few African countries that have held censuses every ten years since independence. In this area, Kenya is also unique in that the census is fully financed through taxpayers’ money, which underscores the importance that the Government accords this national exercise. Let me take this opportunity to share with you some of the uses that will be made of the data being collected through the census.
By Government
For the Government, census data is the most crucial ingredient for facilitating evidence-based planning processes. Given that the data is being collected from the lowest administrative level, it will help the country to ensure that non one is left behind as we progress in the middle income status in line with Vision 2030, the Big Four Agenda and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Another critical use of the data is in guiding the Government on the location of important public amenities. Planners will use the information on the number of people to forecast the demand for among others, schools, hospitals and administrative offices for the next ten years.
By businesses
One of the census questions on ICTs focuses on online transactions. This information will provide insights about the potential for e-
commerce in the country. The very high penetration of mobile phones in Kenya presents a huge opportunity for e-commerce.
Census information will also help in determining location of premises, social amenities, establishing the demand for goods and services as well as determining availability of human resources.
By Research and academic institutions
The data will provide research and academic institutions with an up- to-date reference point for interpretation of Kenya’s demographic reality.
By civil society
The civil -society sector will find the data critical for the design and implementation of social programmes.
For international relations
In the community of nations, countries know each other based on national data, particularly population. Kenya will stand tall and proud because it will not only be the most comprehensively done survey in the country’s history, it will also be the first paperless census for which the enumeration process will be fully digitised.
Ends…