The Census department of the Wa Municipal Assembly has launched the 30 days countdown to the 2021 Population and Housing Census night.
The event was held at the Wa Municipal Assembly hall and attended by the Upper West Regional Minister, Dr Hafiz Bin Salih, the Municipal Chief Executive, Issahaku Tahiru Moomin, Traditional rulers, assembly members and some departmental heads.
In his opening remarks, the Municipal Chief Executive, Issahaku Tahiru Moomin do not mince words on the importance of Population and Housing Census (PHC) on the Ghanaian economy.
“Ghana has been highly consistent in conducting such exercise every ten years since 1960 to count and understand its population size, structure and dynamics.”
“As you are aware PHC provide data on sex, age, birth and deaths, what we do for a living, where we leave, the quality of our housing and access to public services and education. The creation of districts and regions by successive governments is based on census data. It is therefore worthy that the 2021 census will provide data distribution on the population to help with track progress made regards to international, national, regional developmental goal.”
According to the MCE, MMDA’s are fully in support of the census because it will provide data for programs at the district level.
“It is reassuring that the census will collect information on every structure household and individuals by providing reliable and aggregated data at the lowest level of administration and geography including rural and urban differentiation. This data are critically needed by MMDA’s for the purpose of tracking progress in particular aimed at eradicating poverty and all kinds of inequality in the districts and municipalities.“
Addressing the participants, the Municipal Census Director, Edward Tabiesi Naa said 28th May 2021 marked 30 days to the 2021 population and housing census night which aims to count every person and every structure in Ghana and provide updated information of the socio economic, democratic and housing conditions of the population.
He said the census slogan is “You count, Get counted” while urging the people to take part in the exercise as the information collected from the census will be used to make informed decisions.
“A lot of work has already been done as far 2021 PHC is concern. We have finished training the national trainers as well as the regional trainers. The TOES training is expected to start on 31st May 2021.”
“From 13thJune to 20th June 2021, expect an enumerator to visit the structure where you leave and write a serial number on the walls to identify the structure. If your structure has not been numbered by 20th June, contact the census call center from 28th June to 11 July, expect an enumerator to visit your household to collect information on all persons who slept there on the night of 27th June. Ensure that an adult member is available to answer questions on behalf of other household members.”
“27th June 2021 is Census night, on that night activities will be carried out in all communities, on social media, on TV and also to make the night memorable. The census night is the reference time for all questions to be asked during enumeration.”
Delivering a statement during the occasion, Dr Hafiz Bin Salih said the government of Ghana recognizes the important role data plays in the development agenda of the country especially for economic growth and improvement of the lives in the population.
He said this has resulted in a number of initiatives taken by government’s over the years to promote growth including the Ghana Poverty Reduction strategy, the Livelihood for Empowerment Against Poverty, The Ghana Shared Growth and development Agenda and an Agenda for jobs creating prosperity and equal opportunities for all.
“It is worth mentioning that that all these development initiative are human centered with emphasis on welfare issues such as poverty, hunger, inequality in various forms, child labour among others.”
“Notwithstanding the importance of statistics to ensure economic devt, a major challenge we are facing as Civil Service Organizations, businesses and government as far as planning, monitoring and evaluation of policies and government are concern is lack of reliable and timely data.”
“It is therefore reassuring that the 2021 PHC will provide a huge amount and variety of data to support both national and global devt processes.”
The Minister pledged the support of the Regional Coordinating Council in ensuring that the necessary measures are put in place to protect enumerators, officials and citizens to ensure a smooth conduct of the census in the region.
Dr Hafiz Bin Salih entreated everyone to avail themselves to be counted when the exercise commences.
