THAT ALL MUST BE COUNTED (SEPT 25, 2010)

ALL is set for the 2010 Population and Housing Census, which is scheduled to take off at midnight of September 26, 2010, throughout the country.
Preparations so far made by the National Census Secretariat (NCS), coupled with the firm assurance given by the Government Statistician, Dr Grace Bediako, that the secretariat was determined to ensure that nobody living in the country is left out during the exercise, are a pointer to the fact that the country will witness a very smooth exercise.
The theme for this national exercise: “You count, so be counted”, says it all regarding the very essence of the exercise and this requires that everybody plays his or her role to make it a success.
In all, about 50,000 census enumerators have been assigned their respective enumeration areas, comprising 150 households each and currently, they are engaged in the listing of houses and structures.
The conduct of the decennial enumeration exercise is in accordance with United Nations recommendations and the Statistical Law, 1985 (PNDC Law 135), which empowers the Government Statistician to conduct any statistical enquiry in the country.
Data collected in the enumeration exercise, together with other data from other sources, will constitute an enormous information to enhance national development planning of all the economic sectors.
Furthermore, the data will help the Electoral Commission, for instance, to revise electoral areas and constituencies, as well as help the government to track the progress of development programmes such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
A novelty in the country’s census history is that, this year’s exercise puts special emphasis on the collection of data on people with diasability. The essence is to help address some of the socio-economic challenges this group of people face, such as education, employment and access to other social services.
It is in this regard that DAILY GRAPHIC appreciates the appeal by the Government Statistician that the general public disregard religious and cultural dispositions that make some people to hide their relatives who are physically-challenged from public view, and instead, make such persons available for enumeration.
The data collected from the exercise will not only be beneficial to the government but many other agencies and institutions in the country such that even the business community and traders, just to mention a few, will need it in their planning efforts.
It is our hope that some of the problems encountered during the last census in 2000 are not repeated, where, for instance, there were reports that some people were left out in this important exercise.
The NCS has made some efforts by making telephone numbers available to the public to call should anybody be left out or to report any malpractice by any of the enumerators.
We believe that there should be some toll-free lines to ease the strain and pressure to call the NCS. But we must sound a caution that these toll-free lines, if provided, are not abused by the public.
This is a national exercise, which is being paid for from the taxpayer’s contribution and it is for this reason that everybody must give it their maximum support so that at end of the exercise on October 10, 2010, we can collectively beat our chest to boast of its success.
Barely 24 hours from now, an explosion of fireworks and bonfires, as well as blowing of sirens and ringing of church bells, will usher residents of Ghana into such an important national exercise.
The spontaneous funfair is expected to rock every corner of the country on the midnight of Sunday, September 26, 2010, at which time a hypothetical snapshot will be taken of Ghana to determine the country’s current population.
We implore everybody living in Ghana during the period to be a part of this historic event.