This archive report was first published on 26 August 2019.
On August 26, 2019, a woman was arrested in Juja, Kiambu County, for allegedly obstructing census officials and providing false information to local authorities.
Nelly Kinja, a tenant at Joyland estate in Juja, was apprehended for blocking enumerators from counting her and using vulgar language.
According to a police report, Ms. Kinja claimed to be the landlady and told the enumerators, accompanied by an area elder, that she would not be enumerated as the government had overburdened her with land rates.
She also stated that the entire census exercise served no purpose and later claimed to have been enumerated on Saturday, which was a lie.
Ms. Kinja was arrested and is being held at Juja Police Station to await arraignment.
Juja Sub-County Police Commander Dorothy Migarusha stated that the woman will be charged at Thika Law Courts on Monday, as the law prescribes penalties for people committing offenses related to the national population census.
According to the government, missing out on the census could result in a one-year jail term, a fine of Sh500,000, or both penalties.
The Statistics (Amendment) Act, 2019, signed into law by President Uhuru Kenyatta, amended the penalties for obstruction of the census from Sh100,000 to Sh500,000 and gave the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) professional independence and expanded its mandate.
