Politicians from Central Kenya have protested the government's plan to conduct the upcoming national population census manually.
The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the body mandated to conduct the census, last week dropped plans to use biometric system arguing it will be impossible to capture data of children aged five years and below who have not developed reliable biometric features.
However, leaders from Central Kenya have vowed to mobilise residents to boycott the exercise saying they won't accept to be enumerated through a manual system.
"The bare minimum for the census to be carried out in a credible and reliable manner is through the biometric system. As central Kenya people, we shall boycott the census if there are any attempts to carry out the exercise manually," said Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua on Tuesday.
Speaking during a function in his constituency, Gachagua alleged the numbers in the 2009 census were manipulated in some areas which have seen them receive more and unfair resources from the government at the disadvantage of other regions such as Central Kenya.
"Resources are about people, not the vastness or size of the area, but population and this is the basis on which they should be distributed," the first-time legislator said.
Other leaders who vowed to reject the census unless biometric kits are used include Murang'a Senator Irungu Kang'ata, Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro, former Kiambu Governor William Kabogo, Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria and others.
"As we usher in 2019, all our energies and focus need to be on delivering a credible census using biometric technology and using the same as the basis for the new CRA formula for resource allocation. The era of allocating resources to trees, animals and deserts is over," Kuria said in a past post on Facebook.