The preliminary results of the just concluded 2019 population and housing census will be made known to Kenyans in three months’ time, a census official has disclosed.
This will be a departure from previous censuses where results have taken longer to release.
The Bungoma County Kenya National Bureau of Statistics Coordinator, William Etwasi attributed the early release to the use of electronic gadgets to capture data that has made it easy for the department to analyses the statistics faster.
About 129,123 enumeration areas comprising an average of 100 households were established during mapping.
Etwasi was speaking during the county census committee meeting held in the County Commissioners Boardroom.
He thanked members for their commitment and teamwork that made the exercise a success and announced that only one tablet used in the exercise was lost out of the more than 3900 distributed.
The census data that was gathered via door to door collection from the night of August 24/25 included questions on age, religion, sex, ethnicity, marital status, migration status, disability status, levels of education, knowledge on ICT, household amenities and agriculture activities among other questions
Etwasi said Kenyans will be able to know preliminary results according to thematic areas covered during the exercise, adding that all data collected remains confidential as provided for by the statistics act 2006.
After six months, the bureau will then release the basic results, while the full results of the census giving a more complete overview of the exercise will be released in one year once the analysis of all data in all categories covered in the questionnaire is finished.
He said the data will be used to assess the socio-economic characteristics of people of different backgrounds as well as in identifying the minority groups.
The size of the population will partly determine the amount of resources to be provided by the government for purposes of development.
The information will also aid planners in all planning decisions so as to be able to determine the needs of different segments of the population with regard to age and sex as well as future housing needs.
The question on education attainments will help planners with information on the skills of the country’s workforce and available gaps and ways to develop new strategies.
The County Police Commander (CPC), Francis Sang said investigations had been launched on the loss of a tablet used in the exercise, adding that progress towards its recovery was underway.
The area County Commissioner (CC), Stephen Kihara said Bungoma experienced minimal challenges due to mechanisms put in place that ensured all emerging issues were nipped in the bud.
By Roseland Lumwamu
