Chiefs to play key roles in 2010 census

Daily Graphic (pg 51) Wed. April 28/10

Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
TRADITIONAL leaders are to play key roles in the upcoming 2010 National Population and Housing Census, according to the National Census Secretariat.
They are to assist in the sensitisation and education of their subjects at the National and Regional Houses of Chiefs and at the district level through the Traditional Councils.
The Director of Field Operations at the Census Secretariat, Mr David Kombat, who made this known to the Daily Graphic in an interview, said to ensure the success of the 2010 census , the secretariat had formed committees at both the district and regional levels to help in diverse ways.
He said his outfit was also working at involving religious groups in the census.
The committees at the regional levels include the Regional Co-ordinating Director, who is the Chairman, the Regional Statistician, the Secretary, with other members including the Regional Population Officer, the Regional Director of Education and the Regional Information Officer. Others are the Regional Planning Officer, the Regional Director of the NCCE, the Regional Social Welfare Officer, the Regional Community Development Officer, the Regional Electoral Officer, the Regional Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and a representative of the Regional House of Chiefs.
At the district level, the committee comprises the District Co-ordinating Director, who is the chairman, the district statistician, the secretary, the district population officer, the district education officer, the district information officer, the district planning officer, the district director of the NCCE, the district social welfare officer, the district community development officer, the district electoral officer, the district director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and a representative of the traditional council.
He said at the national level, a representative of the National House of Chiefs is a member of the National Census Steering Committee.
The 2010 National Census is expected to be held in the last quarter of the year.
Ghana’s 2010 national census, which was originally expected to take place in March, is being delayed because the Census Secretariat needed ample time to capture data from a trial census organised in November last year.
About 50,000 field officers are to be recruited and trained for the field operation.
Mr Kombat, who was assisted by the Head, Census Mapping, Mr Kofi Agyeman-Duah, said the involvement of these strategic officers at both the district and regional levels would help the publicity and education of the programme, saying it was through their efforts that the message of the census could reach the hard-to-reach people in the communities.
He said the members of the committee would also help in the recruitment and training of field officials for the programme, adding that the training, which would be at three levels, would be done at the national, regional and district levels.
He said at the national level, a trainers-of-trainers workshop would be organised for officials from the regions, who would in turn train regional officers, who would also train people at the district levels, with the district trainers training the field personnel.
Mr Agyeman-Duah said the members of the committee would also help in mobilising logistics and transport which would convey field materials to the field.
He said they would also help with the monitoring and supervision of the filed officers and provide office space where materials for the programme could be stored.
He advised people not to travel to their home towns for the census because they could be counted in their homes so they should be at home on the night of the census.
Mr Agyeman-Duah said there was the need for people to understand what census was all about, saying censuses organised across the world now did not demand that citizens should go to their home towns to be counted and that enumerators would visit the homes of people to count them.
He said no other programme could be substituted for the census and therefore called on all to support for it to be successful.