The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has encouraged more interested persons to register to take part in the 2020 Population and Housing Census in the Upper West Region. This is because the region is yet to meet the set number of people required to undertake the exercise.
Speaking to GBC at Wa, the Regional Statistician, Jeremiah Sixtus Dery, disclosed that a total of three thousand field staff are need to undertake the exercise in the Upper West Region because of its relatively smaller population size.
Mr Dery explained that while some areas like the Wa Municipal had seen an oversubscription, other areas like the Nandom, Sissala West and Wa East Districts as well as the Lawra Municipal are yet to reach their quotas.
“As a region, our numbers are quite small so we are expected to recruit close to 3,000 personnel for the region. As it stands now, applications are still open till about January 30, 2020, so people should apply. For quotas, some of the districts have had in excess yet some are yet to meet their quota,” he disclosed.
A National Population and Housing Census is conducted every decade. Later this year, the Ghana Statistical Service is expected to collect data for this purpose. Data to be collected will include ages, sexes, marital status, economic status, educational backgrounds and disabilities if any of people resident in the country. The Census will also collect data on housing units across the country.
About 70,000 people are expected to be recruited across the country for the exercise.
In the Upper West Region, the Regional Statistician, Jeremiah Sixtus Dery, explained that necessary infrastructures are being put in place to ensure the smooth running of the project. Mr Dery said after the inauguration of the Regional Census Implementation Committee, the GSS has recruited 11 persons to act as District Census Officers to oversee the activities of field staff in their jurisdictions.
The Regional Census Implementation Committee is an 8-member committee composed of staff from the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Ghana Education Service (GES), National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) among others.
Mr Dery said soon after their orientation, all 11 Municipal and District Census Implementation Committees will be inaugurated for actual work to begin in the various Municipalities and Districts across the region.
The Regional Statistician was full of praise for stakeholders saying the GSS has enjoyed maximum cooperation and support. He appealed to the media to help educate residents on the need for them to cooperate and give valid information to enumerators recruited for the exercise.
“For the Census to be successful, we need everybody to put their hands on deck. We need the media to support us to sensitise the public on the importance of the census and the need for them to be counted when people come around,” he said.
Mr Dery emphasised that “everybody counts so everybody should be counted”.
He said government has showed great commitment towards the funding of the exercise.
Story filed by Mark Smith.
