DOES IT MAKE SENSE TO SPEND SHS 138BN IN A CENSUS WHEN MUCH OF DECISIONS ARE NOT MADE RATIONALLY FROM THE PLANNING ASPECT, BUT POLITICALLY MOTIVATED?

DOES IT MAKE SENSE TO SPEND SHS 138BN IN A CENSUS WHEN MUCH OF DECISIONS ARE NOT MADE RATIONALLY FROM THE PLANNING ASPECT, BUT POLITICALLY MOTIVATED?
National population, housing census to cost sh138b
Publish Date: Dec 10, 2011
By Taddeo Bwambale

Uganda’s population and housing census which is scheduled to take place next year will cost the country sh138b, the Uganda National Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) has disclosed.
The amount covers costs of all activities undertaken by the statistics body over the five year period starting in 2008.
UBOS’ executive director, Male Mukasa said up to sh56b had so far been spent the national mapping exercise intended to update boundaries of administrative units before the census starts.
Out of the 112 districts earmarked for the mapping exercise, 96 have been covered, Mukasa said.
The exercise will capture new maps of every administrative unit up to the village level.
Mukasa said UBOS had set up a data processing centre and established district census offices in most parts of the country to guide the exercise.
He, however, said the statistics body was still faced with funding challenges. Of the sh48b required for this financial year, the body has so far received only sh19b. The body will need sh76b during the next financial year.
He appealed to the public to provide accurate information to the body and warned that giving false information would undermine planning for the country.
“Tell the truth when the time comes because if you give wrong information, it will haunt you for the next ten years until the next census,” he warned.
He was presenting a paper at the national conference on population and development at Speke Resort Hotel in Kampala.
He urged cultural and religious leaders to mobilize the public to participate in the census, saying it was good for the future of the country.
The population census is a means of determining the number of people in the country, their composition and distribution. It shows the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the population.
The last census was carried out in 2001. It put the country’s population at 24 million people. The latest State of Uganda Population report by the Population Secretariat, puts the figure at 33 million.