Population and Housing Census not for taxation – Statistician
Mr Emmanuel George Osei, Ashanti Regional Statistician, has said that the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has recruited 10,250 Enumerators and Supervisors for training in the Region, for the impending Population and Housing Census in the country.
He urged the enumerators and supervisors to render quality services and adhere to the rules and regulation of the Census, to ensure its success.
Mr Osei was speaking at a day’s Advocacy Seminar on the 2010 Population and Housing Census, organized jointly by the National Population Council (NPC) and the GSS for 40 participants in Kumasi, on Thursday.
The seminar attended by Assembly members, representatives of Churches, Muslims and heads of decentralized departments was designed to brief them on the exercise, so that they could in turn enlighten their people on the need to patronise it.
He said the exercise was not meant to collect taxes from the people but to collect important data, to help plan the development of the country.
Mr Osei observed that, the nationwide exercise would start from September 26 to October 9 this year, and would involve the counting of people in households, institutions as well as structures and called on the public to give genuine information to the enumerators.
Warning the enumerators against extorting monies from the people before counting them, he said those who would be caught in the act would face the full rigours of the law.
He asked the enumerators and supervisors to develop good rapport with the people by explaining the importance of the exercise to them so that they could give accurate and adequate information to them.
Mr Osei stated that the enumerators would swear an oath of secrecy and confidentiality, so that they would not disclose any information gathered to others.
The Regional Statistician appealed to the participants to liaise with their traditional rulers to sensitize the people to embrace the programme.
The participants called on the GSS and other stakeholders to provide the enumerators and supervisors with the necessary logistical support to ensure the success of the exercise.
Source: GNA
Some DCEs are allerged to have given consideration to party members in recruition of enumerators especially in the Juaboso District in the Western Region of Ghana which might undermine the the census exercise. In some cases DCEs were part of panel members for interviewing applicants.