Have you been counted yet? As day three of the census clock in, a majority of Kenyans are yet to encounter enumerators with some unafraid that the exercise will hit the deadline before they are counted. Lots of Kenyans have expressed concerns about how slow the process situation that is hurting their businesses.
The government has responded to the matter, by extending census hours in major towns that will see the exercise run during the day up to 10 pm. Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho told the public that the hours had been extended to instead run from 6 am to 10 pm in Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, Kisumu, Eldoret, Nyeri, Kiambu, Thika, Machakos, Kakamega, and Kisii.
“We acknowledge that Day Two saw an improved pace from Day One and we know many Kenyans are yet to be visited. We are, therefore, extending census working hours from 6.00am-10.00pm to capture as many people as possible,” said Dr. Kibicho.
The 2019 census will be the first to make use of technology as it will be a paperless process administered by enumerators. KNBS director-general Zachary Mwangi revealed that the Ksh18.5 billion will be pumped into the process for accurate and credible figures.
Enumerators have been going from home to home, knock on hotel room doors, hospitals, to travelers and street families, to administer digital questionnaires. Among the questions, Kenyans are being asked include their names, sex, age, marital status, births dates, marital status, education attainment among others.
