The Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) has confirmed that they are going to map out households that have been marked as enumerated, yet no actual counting has taken place.
This development follows revelations from Dr. Chris Mukiza, the Executive Director of UBOS, that reports received indicated that some households have been marked as enumerated, which is false.
He made these remarks on May 16, 2024, while at the Uganda Media Centre in Kampala.
“We have information that some households are marked as enumerated when they are not. The good thing is that we have every household mapped with the GPS, so when your household is enumerated, we log into the enumerators tablet and place in geo coordinates, and it will turn green, indicating that you have been counted, and when you have not, it will give another color,” Dr. Mukiza said.
He urged people who have not been counted to reach out to their local council leaders or call UBOS, and a standby enumerator will be sent to their locations.
“We are on the right track; we shall finish, but for those who started late, where the enumerators complained of failing machines, that day was not captured on our system. So if by May 19, 2024, they have not finished, they will pay for that day; ours is output-oriented performance management,“ Mukiza said.
According to Mukiza, despite the challenges they encountered during the takeoff, they have caught up by capturing over 1.3 million households in a day.
Amos Lugoloobi, the Minister of State for Finance, Planning, and Economic Development, said that the census questionnaires were translated into 21 local languages, and enumerators are expected to interview residents in the language best understood by a particular household.
He added that enumerator training allowances were paid to them on their registered mobile money numbers.
“On the issue of training allowances, which was one of the biggest complaints at the beginning, all the 63 districts that shared the names of their enumerators have received their payments, which were uploaded on the recruitment portal, and all have received their money directly on their mobile phones as provided,” Lugoloobi said.
The Population and Housing Census began on Friday, May 9, 2024, and will continue through Sunday, May 19.