National census off to a slow start

The national census continued at a slow pace on Tuesday, even as officials expressed optimism that 50 per cent of the population would be covered in the first two days.

Enumerators were taking up to 45 minutes to gather data in each home.

People were expected to answer questions such as the number of people who spent Monday night in the house, religion, number of livestock, whether their children attend public or private school, water source, material used to build their homes, type of toilet and energy used.

It is one of the most comprehensive attempts to collect data on the standards of living of Kenyans and visitors to the country.

In Coast Province, the start of counting on Monday was delayed to allow Muslims, who are observing the Holy Month of Ramadhan, to break the fast.

The count was also done at military barracks, police stations, prisons and residences of people in disciplined forces.

There, supervisors and enumerators drawn from the forces, carried out the count on behalf of the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).

There were complaints in Kayole, Soweto and Doonholm areas of Nairobi, where two sets of enumerators arrived for the count.

The Provincial Administration was accused of carrying out parallel recruitment, leading to the confusion.

In Nyanza, parts of Rift Valley and Western provinces, counting went on, albeit at a slow pace.

In some places, especially in Nyanza, some people insisted on being counted as clans and not individuals.

Command post

At their command post in Nairobi, officials in charge of the national census hope to have counted about 36 million Kenyans by noon on Wednesdayday. They announced that the process had been smooth so far.

KNBS director-general Anthony Kilele said the census officials were expected to reach 50 per cent of the estimated 12 million households in the country.

However, those who were not in the country on Monday night will be left out of the official statistics because KNBS is “seeking a snapshot of the people who were in Kenya on that specific night”.

The officials described as successful the process that began on Monday evening with the President, Vice-President and Planning minister being counted. Former president Daniel arap Moi was also counted.

There were hitches in several parts of the country. Internal refugees at a camp in Ol Kalou, Nyandarua District, initially resisted being counted on the basis that none of the enumerators was from the camp.

In Pokot North, near the border with Uganda, additional forms had to be provided after pastoralists, who had gone to the neighbouring country, trooped back home to be recorded as Kenyans.

“Exercises of this magnitude normally have hitches and we are dealing with each as it occurs,” said Mr Kilele.

Enumeration on the controversial Migingo Island in Lake Victoria, at the centre of an ownership dispute between Kenya and Uganda, is expected to be complete by Wednesday.

In Shinyalu and Bomachoge constituencies, where there will be by-elections on Thursday, the exercise should be complete by then.

“We have heard that some of the census officials were party agents and the provincial administration will be looking into it,” said Mr Kilele.

Senior supervisors in Machakos downed their tools to protest at lack of vehicles. The standoff affected counting in Athi River, Machakos and Kajiado districts, which form the greater Machakos region.

Nairobi provincial commissioner Njoroge Ndirangu said no crime had been reported on Monday evening, making it “the safest night in Nairobi.”

The officials also sought to allay fears that some Kenyans would not be counted, saying the enumerators were using established patterns based on earlier mapping, and were bound to get to anyone who had not been counted.

“We know where you are as the mapping exercise we did earlier has already put you in a unique locality,” said Dr Collins Opiyo, the director of Social and Population Statistics.