UBOS to use sh339B for population census

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) has allocated Shillings 399 billion for the upcoming population census scheduled for August this year.

Chris Mukiza, the Executive Director of UBOS, revealed that the funds will be utilized over a period of two and a half years.

Of this, Shillings 150.6 billion will be allocated for activities such as district mapping, procurement, recruitment, training, and deployment in preparation for the census.

Mukiza further stated that during the census, an estimated Shillings 176 billion will be used to cover expenses related to facilitating the enumeration process, payments to enumerators, data analysis, and other operational aspects.

“The census night will be August 24 and 25 and the first day of counting will be August 25 for 10 days if all things remain constant that is the day given by cabinet,” Mukiza stated. In order to streamline the mapping exercise, UBOS has decentralized the process to all districts in Uganda, entrusting the Chairpersons of the District Census Committees with the responsibility.

Mukiza urged the Chief Administrative Officers (CAOs), who serve as the chairpersons of the district census committees, to carry out the mapping exercise accurately and without inflating population numbers. “Population census can turn into being a political exercise because it’s used in resource allocation, some districts may want to have a bigger population so that they can get bigger resources, but the good thing is we have measures to check them,” Mukiza stated.

As of now, UBOS has covered 56 percent of households in the mapping process, with 40 districts already fully covered. Cities will be mapped last due to the dynamic nature of their population sizes resulting from ongoing development activities.

For the first time, UBOS will conduct two types of population census: The De facto method, where people will be counted based on their location during the census night and day, and the De jure method, where individuals will be counted based on their usual place of residence.

“What we are going to add that has not been there, is the day population of the cities, we have been having running battles with Kampala and some municipalities and whether you’re a Ugandan or not we will not discriminate,” Mukiza added.

The previous population census in Uganda took place in August 2014, with a budget of 75 billion Shillings. The census, conducted under the theme “Counting for Planning and Improved Service Delivery,” created over 150,000 temporary jobs for Ugandans.

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