Enumerators express uncertainty about completing census within schedule 

Some of the Census enumeration palmtops were faulty at the start of the exercise. Photos by Phillips Kica

By Phillips Kica

Gulu City:  The census enumerators within Gulu City doubt the census will be completed within time following several challenges.

The 2024 National Housing and Population Census began on May 10 and will end on May 19th.

However, enumerators in Gulu City have raised concerns about experiencing unexpected delays in households due to challenges such as language barriers, large numbers of households, and insufficient family information provided by some family heads.

An enumerator in Pece Prison ward in Pece Laroo Gulu City East division, who requested to be only called Andrew, indicated that some family heads do not know their children’s dates of birth, which makes the enumerators take time making assumptions.

An Enumerator probing a mother in Laliya key B ward Berdege Layibi divsion Gulu city

He added that it was also difficult for the enumerators to probe some families to give the necessary coordinating information, making them take between one and two hours in a household, instead of the scheduled 20 or 30 minutes.

”Of course, some families have too many members of 18 to 20 people, some with difficult names to write, and their clans are unknown,” Andrew explained.

Andrew, said the majority of the urban refugees from South Sudan do not speak English or the local language, which forces the enumerators to look for a translator, which is time-consuming, and limits the number of households counted to not more than five a day.

Andrew Enumerator on delays

One of the enumerators from Forgod ward in Bardege Layibi division, who sought anonymity, reported that, despite the short distance due to the densely populated area, the number of houses is so large that she could barely cover more than eight households per day.

Her concern is that the ten days may not be adequate due to the many family members in some households.

”The households are numerous, and the number of family members is excessive, so I have to spend two to three hours questioning one household with several family members,” she explained.

According to her, the census timetable must be changed due to a few obstacles recorded by enumerators in the field, such as defective equipment that requires charging, among other things.

Milly Auma, a resident of Layibi Kolo quarters in Pece-Laroo division, said that she faced a challenge in comprehending some questions because the enumerators kept switching from English and Acoli.

Possibility of extension

However, Sarah Apio, the senior economic planner, also the census officer for Gulu city, stated that they are working hard to guarantee that every household in the city is contacted and tallied by enumerators.

Apio revealed that if some families are not counted by the end of the scheduled time, they may request an extension of the exercise.

Apio Sarah Gulu City Economic Planner on enumeration exercise

Dr. Albert Byamugisha, the UBOS board Chairman, claims that the concerns of tablet difficulties, inexperienced enumerators, and allowances have been handled, blaming the failure on the local government.

Byamugisha said that the enumeration deadline would not be extended, save for the Kampala division and districts with boundary disputes.

According to UBOS, the census is 30% complete, with almost 2.6 million households enumerated out of an anticipated 8.7 million.

Patrick Oola Lumumba, the mayor of Gulu’s Bardege Layibi division, acknowledged the language barrier faced among the urban refugees but said they interviewed the majority at the end of day five because translations were provided for them.

Oola, however, noted that there are too many questions, which can be tiresome to answer one by one, especially for large families. 

Jane Francess Amogin Okili, Gulu Resident City Commissioner, said that by the end of day four of the exercise, Gulu City had 23% of its population counted.

”I believe that by the end of day five, we would have reached 40%, and I have strong hopes that Gulu city will finish on time,” she revealed.

Okilli, on the other hand, stated that if the deadline passes without the census being completed, an extension will be required.

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