This archive report was first published on 30 August 2019.
On August 30, 2019, a dramatic scene unfolded in Roysambu, Kasarani, Nairobi, as census enumerators took to the streets to demand payment for their work.
The enumerators, who had been deployed to areas far from their homes, had been promised Ksh. 150 for lunch and another Ksh. 150 for transport per day, but only half of them received the allowances.
"We took part in the census training and were told that we would be given Ksh. 150 for lunch and another Ksh. 150 for transport per day," one enumerator told Citizen Digital.
However, the reality was far from what they had been promised. Many of the enumerators had to walk to their deployment areas as they had no money for transport, and they were forced to conduct the exercise on empty stomachs.
"We are urging the government to pay us our allowances as most of us are students and we are using our savings to do the job. We have also not seen any police officers and our security is at risk because we work late into the evening," the census official was quoted as saying.
