Ubos seeks Shs 169bn for census preliminary activities 

The Uganda National Bureau of Statistics (Ubos) has requested a budget of Shs 169 billion to facilitate preliminary activities for the upcoming national census exercise due in August this year.

Chris Mukiza, the executive director of the bureau, said these funds will, among other things, be used by the bureau to purchase tablets and necessary software, recruit and train enumerators and supervisors, and engage in publicity activities to boost awareness about the exercise.

“It is important to note that this is going to be the first digital census where data is collected from the lowest level of local government using modern technology,” he said.

“The procurement process for purchasing the digital tablets has begun, and we will need roughly 130,000 tablets because we expect to have more than 110,000 enumeration areas. We shall also have a data processing center, data processing servers, and storage servers.”

Mukiza noted that the bureau is in high-gear preparations for the national census exercise with the census mapping data collection exercise already being done in different parts of the country which is so far at 45 per cent in terms of coverage and hoped to be complete by June.

The mapping exercise provides an up-to-date list of enumeration areas (EAs) and administrative units (AUs) in the country. In addition, it determines the number of enumerators and supervisors required for undertaking the census.

The census mapping teams capture details of the administrative units, household heads, area codes for each and every household, physical features, social amenities such as academic institutions, health facilities, places of worship and water sources and name of the LC-I Chairperson and the related telephone contacts.

Geographical details of the administrative units such as county, constituency, sub-county, parish, village, zone, ward and cell are also collected.

“We have scheduled to undertake a pilot study this month, and this will be conducted in 13 districts. This will provide us with a general overview of what we will be handling during the main census enumeration. Our efforts are to ensure that by August 25, when the actual enumeration will start, we should be set with all the pre-tests, and we shall be guaranteeing the country reliable and up-to-date statistical information. We are hopeful that by November 2023, we should be in position to release the preliminary results,” Mukiza said.

Last year, Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja put in place the National Census Council to provide political oversight, publicity and advocacy for the national census of 2023.

The council is supposed to meet once a quarter, and this is part of the wider governance structure expected to deliver the national counting of all Ugandans starting on August 25. The governance structures will ensure work goes according to plan and resources are put to proper use for the purpose they were meant for.

The bureau has also established local government committees in the districts, where there is a district census committee chaired by the chief administrative officer (CAO) and then sub-county census committees and village committees.