UBOS plans to engage government on rescheduling census dates

As Uganda prepares to hold its 6th national population and housing census, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), the state agency mandated to carry out that task, is set to meet the finance ministry and cabinet with a request to reschedule the exercise.

The exercise, according to Chris Baryomunsi, the Minister of ICT and National Guidance, was scheduled for the 24th and 25th of August this year.

However, according to Godfrey Nabongo, the Deputy Executive Director of the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, the set date may not be viable due to procurement activities that are still ongoing.

Nevertheless, Nabongo highlighted that they were able to repurpose some of the funds to kick start most of the pre-census activities after seeking guidance from the Ministry of Finance, hence achieving most of the set targets.

He said UBOS’s key issue is procurement of the computer tablets. This, UBOS said, is hindering achieving the set August dates.

“We are making a report to the ministry of finance and cabinet who set the date so that we seek guidance on the best options under the circumstances,” Nabongo told a press conference in Kampala on Thursday.

“We may not give you the exact date of when [census will be carried out] but we are making proposals and we expect the government to give us a position. August is turning out not to be tenable given where we are in terms of readiness because of the procurement of tablets,” he said.

Even though UBOS is working within the timeline of August, Nabongo hopes that by the end of next week, the government will have communicated the new dates for carrying out the census.

UBOS noted that this financial year, they requested most of the money since it’s the time they recruit and train enumerators. The government is working on giving UBOS the money to carry out the exercise as planned.

“In terms of being enough, it’s enough because the government didn’t reduce the budget we put before them. Concerning procurement, the government has found the money to procure the tablets. We are trying to expedite that process and make sure we get the tablets as soon as possible,” Nabongo narrated.

He explained that the government has secured funding from the World Bank through NITA-U to the tune of $10 million.