October set for census date

Daily Graphic (Back Page), Friday, March 19/10

Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE date for the conduct of the National Population Census has now been tentatively fixed for October 26, this year.
The National Census Steering Committee is said to have fixed the date for the last quarter of the year but it is waiting for a confirmation from Cabinet.
According to a source at the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), the date was fixed after the committee had deliberated with the Ghana Education Service (GES) and other stakeholders to ensure that the date was convenient to all.
The census, which will be undertaken by 36,000 enumerators and 9,000 supervisors, mostly made up of teachers, will be conducted within a period of two weeks.
The 2010 national census, which was originally expected to take place this month, was delayed because the Census Secretariat needed ample time to capture data from the trial census organised in November last year.
Ghana normally organises its national census, which captures the data of every person living within the borders of the country at census night, in or around March every 10 years but this year’s census delayed due to other factors, such as the commencement of the African Cup of Nations and the World Cup.
According to experts, such major events could affect the seriousness of the census programme.
According to the source, three new areas on agriculture, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and disability will be introduced into this year’s questionnaire.
The new areas will be introduced alongside some of the normal questions on age, fertility, religious affiliation, as well as educational and economic characteristics of people.
This year’s census will also capture all housing structures, including kiosks, mosques, churches and school buildings in the country.
The Census Secretariat estimates to capture about 25 million people who will be residing within the country on the day of the census.
At a press conference organised in January this year, the Minister of Finance, who is the Chairman of the National Census Steering Committee, said the government was sourcing additional funds from the private sector and developing partners to finance the 2010 Population and Housing Census.
He said the country needed more than US$49 million to organise the census, noting that as of January this year, it had set aside GH¢37 million towards the implementation of the census programme.
The minister, at the press conference, commended the country’s development partners, such as the UNFPA, the DFID, the UNDP, DANIDA, UNICEF, the Swiss government and the People’s Republic of China, for their contribution and pledges, which amounted to US$5 million.