MIS-INFORMATION CIRCULATING ABOUT THE KENYA NATIONAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS OFFICERS, UNDERTAKING FIELD DATA COLLECTION.
The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) was established by The Statistics Act of 2006, as a Semi-Autonomous Government Agency under the Ministry of Devolution and Planning.
The Act mandated KNBS to do collection, compilation, analysis, publication and dissemination of statistical information for public use, with an additional role of coordinating, monitoring and supervising the National Statistical System (NSS). KNBS plays a crucial role in the development of statistics, at the National and County levels.
Among other key Surveys, KNBS is currently conducting the 2015/16 Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey (KIHBS). The national survey will provide a wide range of information such as the standard of living, education levels, employment and many other indicators for planning and policy making at both the national and county level. The main field data collection exercise commenced in September 2015, and is ongoing until end of August 2016. Preparatory activities for the main field data collection include visiting the selected areas to prepare a list of households, in preparation for interviews during the 2015/16 KIHBS, as well as conducting publicity and advocacy campaigns. This has been ongoing since the survey commenced.
As part of the preparatory activities, our officers (2 male KNBS officer and 1 female temporary officer) visited ‘Charani Court’ Cluster in Highridge, Westlands area accompanied by the village elder and the Chief, to undertake the household listing exercise from Friday 20th May 2016, to Sunday 22nd May 2016. The area chief further conducted a door-to-door publicity exercise for the selected respondents for the 2015/16 KIHBS in the area. The KNBS officers then proceeded on with the household listing exercise.
The exercise was temporarily interrupted by one household respondent who was not certain of the identity of KNBS officers. The respondent proceeded to call the police and requested for identification badges of our personnel. Our officers handed over their badges and the official introduction letter to the respondent, for confirmation. The issue was resolved by the police and the area chief, and KNBS team proceeded to finalize the listing exercise.
Even after the clarification, it is unfortunate that photographs of our officers alongside the official introduction letter signed by Director, Population and Social Statistics on behalf of the Director General have been circulating on Facebook and Whatsapp under ‘Crime Alert Kenya.’ We wish to inform the public that, KNBS officers whose pictures are in circulation are not criminals, but legitimate KNBS staff.
We regret this incident and urge our stakeholders and the public to first verify facts from our offices Tel +254(0)20-3 317 583/612/+254 701 244 533, twitter handle @KNBStats, Facebook page Kenya Stats and the website, www.info@knbs.or.ke before posting misleading information on social media. This will greatly impact on response rates, and hinder evidence based decision making for the betterment of all Kenyans.
We however request the public to support us during our surveys, as we endeavor to collect quality statistics that keep you informed!