[Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) director general Zachary Mwangi speaking during Ministerial Conference on Open Data and Nutrition and the 4th Agritec Africa International Exhibition previously. [Photo-/nation.co.ke]
The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) will from next year undertake a cartographic mapping of all villages in Garissa County ahead of the 2019 national population census.
Speaking during the African statistics day celebrations held at ATC Garissa today, Ali Noor, a senior official of statistics based in Nairobi urged the leaders and residents alike to support the team of about 400 personnel as this will form part of the preparation for the population census.
Noor said that they are looking forward to a successful 2019 census devoid of controversies that marred the 2009 exercise in the counties of Garissa, Wajir, Mandera, and Turkana.
The three counties went to court after KNBS contested the figures claiming they were inflated.
He acknowledged that among the challenges KNBS are faced with when collecting data include non-response from the locals on suspicion that the same information will be passed to other state departments.
“Most people are not willing to give information because they think that this information is going to be shared with other government departments such as KRA. This is not true because we have a duty to maintain confidentiality to anybody who gives us information,” Noor said.
“The same information cannot be traced back to anybody as many people think. Therefore cannot be used for any other purpose other than what is meant for,” he added.
Noor further cited insecurity in some part of the county especially along the border with war-torn Somalia and the vastness of the region as other key challenges.
Deputy county secretary Abdirashid Mohamed urged the KNBS to use ICT to collect and collate data to ensure accuracy and simplicity that will assist the counties to plan and execute projects that are beneficial to the people.
“As a county, we want to develop a robust a County Integrated Development Plan (CDIP) that will guide the current administration in ensuring that projects are planned and implemented in accordance with the law,” Abdirashid said.
He regretted that the last administration received over 30 billion shillings during the five years but the same cannot be accounted for.
A Garissa university don Prof. Julius Huho said ease in the interpretation of the data collected is key in data analysis.
“The data collected should serve the purpose that it is supposed to do. It needs to talk to somebody,” he said.
The theme of this year’s celebration is ‘better lives with better economic statistics