Some traditional beliefs and customs are deeply rooted in some communities, that breaking free from them might take a long while. The people of Gusii community are very much skeptical the upcoming national census as it believed that counting members of a household particularly children is taboo.
This might influence their decision to refrain from participating in the national exercise as they believe that children who are counted die naturally or are bewitched by their families’ enemies as they are considered a source of wealth.
Governors of Kisii and Nyamira counties have urged them to disregard myths and traditional beliefs about the census and fully participate. They told the residents of both counties that it would be crucial for them to disregard the beliefs and fully take part in the census set for August 24-31 to help the government plan for the region.
James Ongwae, Kisii governor noted that the region is underfunded because a majority of its residents did not participate in the last census 10 years ago and that this will be an incentive for the county to get more money from the National Treasury.
“I believe we have a population of over three million people in Kisii alone as opposed to the documented 1.5 million. This makes for a loss when it comes to resource allocation. I have always declared that I have 10 children and nothing happens to them, so my appeal is for each individual in Nyamira and Kisii to be accounted for in the exercise,” he said.
3,500 enumerators, 431 content supervisors and 53 ICT supervisors have been hired to carry out the exercise and have just finalised the ICT training according to the national coordinator of Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, Mr James Abuga.