Kenya has kicked off the preparations for conducting the 2019 population census, officials said on Monday.
Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) Director General (DG) Zachary Mwangi told Xinhua in Nairobi that given the complexity and magnitude of the operation it requires three years of preparation before the real count begins.
“We have begun mapping the country into small enumeration areas so that it will be easier to do the actual counting of people,” Mwangi said.
“We have rolled out a nationwide awareness and advocacy campaign to educate the public on the need to coöperate to make the census a success,” he said on the sidelines of the National Workshop on Data Ecosystems for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The East African nation has conducted a population census every ten years since 1969. Kenya’s population is now estimated at 45 million people.
The KNBS is also conducting a study on the estimated cost of the exercise which takes two days.
The 2009 census cost 80 million U.S. dollars and was 90 percent government funded while the 2019 census is expected to cost more.
According to the statistics agency, the funds for the census will be disbursed over a period of three financial years before the census year.
Mwangi said Kenya will partner with a number of institutions including the United Nations to undertake the exercise.
He noted that the UN Population Fund will give both financial and technical expertise on the census.
“This will help Kenya do international guidance on comparability and harmonization of data,” he said.
