Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) has already developed the program for the upcoming paperless census to be held on August 24th and 25th, with pre-tests already done to confirm its capability, according to the Director-General Zachary Mwangi. 164,700 staff will be required to carry out the exercise countrywide, placed into three categories, ICT supervisors 2,700, content supervisors 27,000 and enumerators 135,000. The Director-General outlined that the distribution of personnel is dependent on the number of households in the Counties.
Many youths in the different Counties have applied for the census jobs, with interviews and shortlisting ongoing. Some have fallen prey to fake census job adverts, despite the County Census Committees that are already in place, and speaking on Monday during a pre-census update, the KNBS DG called for transparency in recruitment, “We want to stress the issue of transparency and fairness so that we have the right people doing the job,” he said. After the recruitment process which will end by 14th July, training of trainers will commence on 15th July, then other staff will also undergo training.
This year’s census will be the first paperless, digital census in Kenya, with the last carried out in 2009. The pilot exercise was already carried out a year ago, on August 2018, and the things observed then include accuracy of the maps, testing questionnaires, adequacy of the personnel administering the questionnaires among other things. The questionnaires cover a range of data, which include demographics, age, sex, marital status, issues to do with disability, agriculture and other details. The KNBS DG said they intend to reach every person in the country even those in the hotels, in transit, those who’ve migrated for a specific period of time.
