Census 2024: What next?

The delivery of the provisional results will be among several post-census activities conducted by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (Ubos).

Yesterday, while attributing to the census roadmap, Ubos spokesperson Didacus Okoth said the agency will immediately proceed to, “data processing, editing, and analysis” until November amidst several activities in-between, including carrying out a post-enumeration survey data collection.

The sample survey, done on selected households, is conducted to ascertain the accuracy and quality of the census. Results from the survey and census are afterward compared before an analysis and conclusion are made.

Further analysis of what transpired and utilisation will be conducted by Ubos from January to March 2025 before the team proceeds to make an administrative report and archiving in November 2025. Further extensions will not be made.

The conclusion of the census comes amidst reports from a section of Ugandans saying they were not visited by any enumerators for counting.

“I have not been counted and neither has anyone in my household,” Ms Betty Lubwama, a resident of Mukono District, told this publication.

The exercise started on May 10 and was expected to have officially ended on May 19. However, due to challenges including technical encounters with the gadgets, the exercise deadline was pushed again, with the last extension accorded for May 25.

The Ubos Executive Director, Dr Chris Mukiza, said in a May 23 official statement that the final date, Sunday, May 26, was directed to complete the exercise in the greater Kampala Metropolitan area that covers districts of Mukono and Wakiso,  as well as areas that encountered landslides and flooding before and during the enumeration period.

“Teams from Ubos have been allocated respective divisions, municipalities, sub-counties, and town councils to conduct the mopping-up assignment,” Dr Mukiza said, adding: “The exercise will continue until Sunday, May 26 to ensure complete coverage of all households.”

Those who had not been counted were urged to utilise Sunday [yesterday] to reach out to their respective local council chairpersons.

“This is to enable them to make an appointment when an enumerator can visit their household within the stated mopping-up period ending Sunday, May 26,” Dr Mukiza noted.

Ubos had alternatively availed phone numbers for affected households to call to make appointments for the enumerators’ visits.

The enumerators, who have been on the ground conducting the exercise from door to door capturing particulars of individuals, have also encountered their share of challenges including delayed payment and hostility from some households.

One enumerator, who preferred to speak on anonymity,  said: “…and some of these people are the ones going around claiming they were not counted. Imagine!”

On how the overall contract job has been for him, he said “it has been a tough one”, especially because of the delayed facilitation.

In their contract, the enumerators signed for payment of a daily allowance of Shs50,000 for each of the 10 days, the period the exercise was planned for.

The 2024 census follows the 2014 one, an activity conducted every 10 years with the intention of planning for Ugandans. The country’s population is estimated at 46 million.