East African Gazette
Makindye
The Resident City Commissioner (RCC) for Makindye Division, Mark Baigana has advised the government to involve more local council leaders in the Census exercise organized by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS).
“The Government relies on the information that will aid the forthcoming census exercise to be captured by UBOS and this will be used for further developmental projects targeted to improve service delivery. The LCs are the foot soldiers who know their households better including the boundaries of their location” Baigana said.
This was during a training conducted Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) at the East African Labor College in Namuwongo suburb in Makindye division Kampala on listing and mapping exercises for census.
“Local leaders especially the LC 1 have a big role as far as data collection on census is concerned, UBOS team have to work hand in hand with the LC 1 one leaders if we are to get practical results that are accurate.
We had a discussion with the UBOs Executive director and I told him to budget for all these people to ensure they are budgeted for because the government relies on them, he said.
The UBOS government entity responsible for data collecting, processing, analyzing and disseminating agency responsible for coordinating and that was formed by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics Act, 1998, and is mandated to “coordinate, monitor and supervise Uganda’s National Statistical System
He reminded the residents that the Miyooga project is not moving on well saying the government was supposed to add Sh 20m to each Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOS) but they are not responding.
We only five circles were given the money and we are wondering why people are not coming for this money, he said.
He said others (SACCOS are failing to pick the money simply because they are scared to be asked for the money they received two years ago.
“I would like to inform all those who picked the Emyooga money to refund it because the time frame is over. The Emyooga money initiative was centered on various 18 categories/enterprises presidential initiatives targeted at wealth and employment creation, and is progressing significantly.
He observed the Local Council Leaders, especially LCI and LCII are the foot soldiers of government programs yet their remuneration is too low to motivate them to perform their duties effectively.
The last national census was conducted in 2014 and Uganda’s population is estimated at 49,5 million by UBOS.
The Publicity and Advocacy Advisor, Alfred Musamali informed the leaders that this census is going to be carried out digitally unlike the past census, it requires proper mapping so that all the people are counted.
“This year’s census is highly digitized. We will use GPS in order to mark the exact locations of the area, their residents and close boundaries” Musamali said.
The census picture will be captured on Thursday and Friday 9th and 10th May and for households who have a long-term arrangement to cook and eat together even if they do not live under the same roof.
“We need to know exactly where people live and take note of the services they use in their homes. If it is a wattle house or permanent house, we need to look at the type of ventilation they have. If they use electricity this will be captured so that in planning their services would be improved.
The Makindye Division Mayor, Ali Nganda-Mulyanyama urged the leaders to take advantage of this census exercise so that the government can improve on the services in their areas and should put their political divides aside.
“Population census is a national planning tool for the social-economic stand for a country, let us give the government the rightful facts on ground so that they can help increase funding and services for our people. People should not mix this with the voters for their 2026 election” Mulyanyama noted.
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