Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) will conduct this year’s national census from Saturday.
The exercise will require people to open their doors for the KNBS enumerators who are real strangers.
But how safe will this be, especially for people living in cities and towns, given that criminals may seize the opportunity to stage attacks?
Here are 10 ways to establish if the people who come knocking your door are the genuine enumerators:
1. Identification – The census enumerators and supervisors will be issued with an official badge stating their names and ID number. The badges will have the government, KNBS and census logo.
2. Uniform – The census staff will wear orange and maroon reflector jackets. The jackets will have a government logo on the right and a census one on the left. The jackets will also have the census motto ‘Jitokeze Uhesabike’ printed on the back.
3. Gadgets – They will also have a black CAPI tablet with the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics logo at the back since all information will be captured electronically.
4. Local leaders – The enumerators will be accompanied by residents’ association leaders or welfare security group leaders who are well known to the household members for purposes of comfort setting.
5. No charges – Enumerators are not allowed to ask for money from citizens, therefore no one should give out money to any enumerator for the process to be conducted. The process is free to all households.
6. Time – An enumerator will spend about 30 minutes in each house. This may be shorter or longer depending on the number of members in the household.
7. Marking – Once the enumerator has collected data from your household, he/she will write a number on the door or at any visible place on the structure or issue a structure numbering card to indicate that counting has been conducted.
8. Rehearsal – Prior to the material day, there will be a census ‘rehearsals’ day during which residents and enumerators will have an opportunity to familiarise with the exercise.
9. Recruitment – County census committees were responsible for recruiting the enumerators and supervisors, who are expected to work in their respective areas. They recruitment was to ensure that they live within the areas where they will conduct the exercise and are therefore known to the residents.
10. Information to be collected – The enumerators will ask questions on personal and household information. This includes:
- Personal information regarding age, gender, date of birth, nationality/ethnicity, religion, mental status, place of birth, marital status and migration status, persons with disability, education and occupation.
- Females will also be asked about the number of living children they have given birth to.
- Information regarding access and ownership of ICT equipment and services, crop farming, livestock and aquaculture, housing characteristics and ownership of assets.
