On Thursday, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) gave an update on a number of concerns pertaining to the 2024 Census.
These include grievances about unpaid enumerator bills, unpaid training costs, and unpaid census costs. The Bureau was hit with some of these issues and had several myths in the media cleared up during a press conference last week.
Didacus Okoth, the organization’s spokesperson, told reporters today that just 1,519 enumerators—out of the 115,846 registered enumerators—had not received payment. 98.7% of them, he claims, have received their money.
Okoth identifies the missing digital devices from the census, local governments submitting names later than expected, and inconsistencies in the given contact information as the reasons for the payment delays.
He continues by saying that 3,240 field guides are likewise still pending payment as a result of comparable contact information inconsistencies. But, of the 112,970, 97.1% had been paid. In terms of Enumeration Supervisors, 13,272 of 14,643 supervisors have received payment; the remaining amount is still pending because of inaccurate information.
The district officials are working to have outstanding concerns resolved by the end of August, even though only 55.78% of them have received money.
He did, however, restate what UBOS ED Chris Mukiza stated last week: only those employees who are directly engaged in census operations such as enumerators and their supervisors are eligible for remuneration.
However, the payment list does not contain local government representatives like LC3s and LC2s.
He stated further that payments made to census workers were mainly made to bank accounts or mobile phones registered in their names via the e-cash network.
According to UBOS, the entire operation cost UGX 328.74 billion that the government set aside for the census. The overall amount spent on training activities amounted to UGX 61.72 billion.
At a cost of UGX 59.6 million, national trainers and district trainers participated in Tier One Training at the UBOS headquarters. District census officials, district commission representatives, and district IT officers received UGX 2.78 billion in Tier Two training at Munyonyo. Supervisors of town councils and sub-counties were the subject of Tier Three Training, which came at a cost of UGX 5.87 billion.
Tier Four Training involved enumerators and their supervisors at the sub-county and town council levels, with the biggest spending of UGX 53.01 billion. In addition, he noted that although service providers have been paid, some delays still exist because of mismatched account numbers.
Okoth also clarified that service providers have been paid, although some delays persist due to incorrect account numbers.
On missing and stolen gadgets, he said 99.3% of the 122,026 tablets deployed, have been retrieved. Similarly, 90.2% of power banks have been recovered, with efforts continuing to reclaim the remaining items.
The Bureau plans to release provisional results by the end of September. The preliminary population figure stands at 45.9 million, as announced by the President. A post-enumeration survey is also underway to ensure the accuracy and quality of the census results.
