SPREAD MESSAGE ON POPULATION CENSUS — YAKUBU (PAGE 22, AUGUST 24, 2010)

THE Chairman of the Upper West Regional Census Implementation Committee (RCIC), Mr David Yakubu, has stressed the need for stakeholders to consciously spread the message on the upcoming national housing and population census.
He said that prevented situations where people took to their heels when census officials got to their villages for them to be enumerated.
“The people in the village believe the enumerators are disciples of the devil and that if they count them, calamity will befall the entire village,” Mr Yakubu said.
He has, therefore, appealed to all to put their shoulders to the wheel and help spread the message on the exercise.
Mr Yakubu was addressing the opening of a day’s sensitisation workshop for personnel of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), the Information Services Department (ISD) and media practitioners among other stakeholders in Wa in the Upper West Region.
He said the only way for a country to know its development parameters was to have an idea about the number of people living in the country, and that called for wider circulation of the message on the impending census.
The Regional Statistician, Mr Francis Nyarko-Larbi, gave the assurance that his outfit was far ahead with preparations towards the national exercise.
“Manuals and questionnaires have been developed, trainer of trainees have also been trained,” adding that what was left was the training of enumerators and the interview of short-listed applicants at the district level by next week,” he stated.
He said about 56,000 individuals would be trained for the exercise.
Mr Nyarko-Larbi urged the citizenry to feel free to give out information to enumerators since every information would be kept confidential.
“A non-census official should not handle census questionnaire and material,” he warned, and further advised people not to rush to travel to their hometowns or villages to be counted.
That, he explained, was because on the census night, which is September 26, 2010, everybody in the country irrespective of one’s location at the time would be covered.
On the role of the media in ensuring a successful national exercise, Mr Nyarko-Larbi stressed the need for them to intensify the education and the sensitisation of the populace.
He also appealed to the media to assist enumerators, especially, at potential conflict areas.