National Census 2019 is finally here. The census, which kicks off on Saturday night, will be the eighth since the first one conducted in 1948, and the first of its kind to be carried out using digital gadgets, a paperless process that seeks to ensure accuracy, speed of processing and security of the data, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).
On the night of August 24/25, persons who will be within Kenya’s borders including household members, those in transit, individuals in hotels and lodges and institutions such as hospitals and prisons, among others will be counted. Enumerators will be asking Kenyans questions on their names, sex, age, marital status, births dates, marital status, education attainment among others.
Kenyans will also be answering to personal details like property ownership, the number of wives, those living with a disability, amount of money remitted by emigrants to households together with other sensitive topics on stillbirths in the household, cause of deaths in the household and the identity of the biological parents of children in the household.
Last month, President Uhuru Kenyatta, signed into law the Statistics (Amendment) Bill and the Accreditation Service Bill, which prescribed heavy penalties to enhance the authenticity of the data collected and public compliance with the census.
Everyone is expected to be truthful and accurate with the information they give to the enumerators. Failure to answer enumerators’ questions or giving them false information during this period will attract Ksh 100,000 fine or six months imprisonment. Those who purport to play mind games with the census enumerators and those who boycott the count will also be risking a Ksh 100,000 fine or one-year jail term.
