Ghana Census Begins

Counting of Ghana's current population has begun in earnest throughout the country. About 50,000 enumerators are undertaking the two-week exercise, which has the slogan, "You count, so be counted". The GH¢70-million enumeration exercise will measure the accurate size of the country's population, which is now estimated at 25 million, and also provide relevant demographic data that will enhance national development planning. Spontaneous fireworks, bonfires, blowing of sirens and ringing of church bells heralded the national exercise last midnight, which was described as the Census Night. The essence of the spontaneous funfair last midnight was to make residents very conscious about where they spent that particular night because every information required by enumerators will be referenced to the Census Night. Enumerators are seeking information from residents, both Ghanaians and non-Ghanaians, relating to their age, sex, marital status, educational attainment, and occupation and economic activity. Others relate to where people reside in terms of permanent and temporary residential structures and the availability of vital social services like water, health, education and housing. Earlier last night, census enumerators had visited hotels, guest houses, lorry stations, the Kotoka International Airport, drinking spots, entertainment centres and strategic places to count travellers, guests of the hospitality industry and the homeless, who constitute the floating population. The Government Statistician, Dr Grace Bediako, has indicated that the National Census Secretariat is determined to ensure that everybody living in the country is counted during the census. She, therefore, urged anyone who was not reached by enumerators at the end of the exercise on October 10, 2010, to report to the secretariat for prompt response. "We will call on everyone to support this exercise and have patience to go through the questionnaire with enumerators to help the government plan its development programmes," she appealed to the people through the Daily Graphic. According to the National Census Secretariat, provisional results of the enumeration exercise would be released in January 2011. The results will spell out the current national population, as well as indicate the respective populations of all the regions and districts of the country. However, the generation of analytical tables giving detail statistics of demographic data, such as the educational background and economic status of the population, will be released in January 2012, the Head of Census Data Processing at the National Census Secretariat, Mr K. B. Danso-Manu, told the Daily Graphic.