Capitalk Reporter/ The Herald |  1 year ago | top

The 2022 population and housing census kicked off yesterday with the counting of President Mnangagwa and the First Family at State House in Harare. Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat) statistician, Assistant Commissioner (Retired) Mukoka Kureva, conducted the census of the First Family.

Briefing journalists soon after the exercise, Zimstat Director-General Mr. Taguma Mahonde implored members of the public to follow the First Family and take part in the population and housing census, which will run until the end of the month.

"We are delighted that His Excellency, the President, gave us an opportunity to do this enumeration. This shows that when the First Family has time for such an exercise, it is important,” said Mr. Mahonde.

On Wednesday, Zimstat convened marches in all major cities and towns across the country as the culmination of an advance publicity campaign to urge everyone to ensure that their households are counted.

Since yesterday, enumerators have been moving across communities and towns, knocking on doors and asking for the data in each household.

They have identity cards that will ensure easy identification. Harare residents hailed the census, saying it was critical for planning. Mr. Fibion Kuimba Spinyu welcomed the exercise, saying the government should know how many people are in the country.

"The census is a good exercise that helps the government plan for development. It enables us to know how many people are living in a certain house, and we should know the total number of people living in our country, "he said.

Mrs. Bration Musengezi said she was happy with the way the census was being conducted as the enumerators were carrying out their duties professionally.

She said, “We are happy that the enumerators are talking to us nicely, and we appreciate that. They are also providing us with information that we require about the census."

In Matabeleland South, the census kicked off as scheduled, although some areas could not be reached because of the ongoing rains.

The provincial statistician, Mr. Munyaradzi Bote, said they had decided to start the process in the rural areas drifting towards urban settlements.

"Everything is going according to plan in all seven administrative districts," said Mr. Bote.

"The process is being slowed down by the ongoing rain in some areas where enumerators cannot reach out to everyone. However, we are fully prepared and we hope to have covered every place in Matabeleland South at the end of the program, "he added.

In Mashonaland Central, counting started well and the enumerators covered some ground. The Shamva District deployed its census teams to Goora at Johane Masowe eChishanu Vadzidzi VaJesu to enumerate thousands of worshipers who are gathered for the church’s annual meeting.

This door knocking and questioning will continue until Saturday next week, giving enough time for the enumerators to track down all householders so that all data is entered into the enumerator gadgets and then downloaded to the ZimStat database.

The results are expected sooner this year with enumerators recording electronic data that can be downloaded rather than having paper returns punched into the database.