Local council leaders cautioned against politicising census registration
According to UBOS, the country’s current population is estimated at 45.5 million, with a growth rate of 30.4 percent.
Makindye Division Mayor, Ali Kasirye Nganda-Mulyanyama has cautioned local council leaders against taking advantage of the upcoming census to create political divides.
After every 10 years, Uganda holds a national census and the last one was carried out in 2014. The census figures play a critical role in guiding planning, policy formulation, programme implementation as well as monitoring development progress in line with the national goals and objectives.
He cautioned the leaders at a workshop organized by Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) that was held on March 30, 2024, at the East African Labor College in Namuwongo aimed at sensitizing leaders in Makindye division about the listing and mapping exercise for the upcoming census.
“This is a population census to ensure national planning for the social-economic stand of the country, you must therefore, not fabricate lists of residents or ferry people from other regions under the misconception that they are strategically enlisting voters for their 2026 campaigns.” Mulyanyama noted.
Alfred Garesom Musamali, the 2024 Publicity and Advocacy Advisor noted that unlike previous census exercises, the 2024 census is highly digitized and will use GPS in order to mark the exact locations of the people, their residents and their delineated boundaries.
Musamali noted that the census ‘picture’ will be captured on the Thursday and Friday 9th and 10th May and will be for households. “Which households are people who have a long term arrangement to cook and eat together even if they do not live under the same roof,” he said.
On the same occasion, the newly appointed Resident City Commissioner for Makindye Division- Mark Baigana has urged government to largely rely on the support of Local Council leaders to ensure smooth operations and accurate results in the population census due to commence in May this year.
The RCC noted that Local Council Leaders, especially LCI and LCII are the foot soldiers of all government programs yet their remuneration is too low to motivate them to perform their duties effectively.
Government having raised the LCI monthly remuneration, the RCC urged government to give them more incentives.
According to UBOS, the country’s current population is estimated at 45.5 million, with a growth rate of 30.4 percent.
