Census results out on Tuesday, at last

By Ally Jamah

The eagerly awaited results of the housing and population census conducted last year are expected to be released in Nairobi on Tuesday.

In a statement, Director General of the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Anthony Kilele, said Planning Minister Wycliffe Oparanya would lead the ceremony to release the results at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre.

The enumeration was done on the night of August 24, last year, followed by intensive data processing, editing, evaluating and analysing of the results.

The Government had initially promised to release provisional results by December, last year, but since then the ceremony has been postponed.

"This makes Kenya the first African country to release comprehensive census results within one year after the enumeration exercise," he said.

Apart from giving the total number of Kenyans, the census is also expected to reveal population distribution in different parts of the country.

"We shall also be sharing data on social and economic characteristics of our population such as education levels, employment status, disability status, ownership of household equipment, housing conditions and available amenities," he added.

Other development partners who will be present at the occasion include the United States Agency for International Development, Swedish International Development Co-operation, the World Bank, United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Population Fund.

Workshop for journalists

In preparation for the release, KNBS will today hold a half-day training workshop for journalists on aspects of the census.

Census was first held in Kenya in 1948, when the country was still a Colony administrated by the British. Since 1969 census has been taken every ten years.

The population stood at about 30 million in the last census in 1999.