This archive report was first published on 25 August 2019.
As the national census exercise gets underway, the government has warned politicians against politicizing the process. The exercise, which officially began on August 24 and will run until August 31, aims to help the government in planning.
Government spokesman Cyrus Oguna told Kenyans to ignore those telling them to travel to their rural homes for the exercise, adding that all Kenyans will be enlisted for purposes of planning from wherever they are. “Kenyans must know that this is a statistical exercise and not a political exercise. So let everyone stay wherever he or she is and the census officials will come,” he said.
Oguna also asked Kenyans yet to be counted to be patient, adding that the exercise will go on until August 31. He urged Kenyans to volunteer accurate information to the census officials, saying the data being collected are confidential and purely for planning purposes. “The data collected will be kept by KNBS and will not be revealed to anyone, so let us give the officials the right information,” he said.
The government has also set up a call centre, which will remain open for 24 hours for the duration of the census process, for reporting issues in the field. The hotline toll-free number is 0800-221-020.
