A senior Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) staff speaks in Kisumu during the commemoration of the African Statistics Day on Friday. [Roberto Muyela]
Members of the public have on Friday been urged to provide genuine information to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) staff who come to collect information in their places of residence.
Kisumu County Director of Economic planning Joseph Okello said that when genuine statistics were provided to the Bureau, more informed and citizen friendly policies will be made at the devolved unit.
Okello made this remarks during the celebrations of Africa Statistics Day in Kisumu where he stated that authentic statistic were crucial in spurring the growth of any economy urging the citizenry to treat KNBS staff with decency.
The devolved unit, Okello said was in the process of forming County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) 2018-2022 which will go a long way in steering the development agenda of the county.
The CIDP, Okello revealed will be more effective that the 2013-2017 version a factor he attributed to access to better and accurate statistics.
Speaking at the same forum, Sammy Tanui, the Kisumu and Siaya County Population Coordinator revealed that Kisumu County was currently having a population of 1.1 million and with the existing 2.2% population growth it is envisioned to scale up to 1.8 million by 2050.
The population, Tanui said was quickly expanding and had overgrown the available social amenities thus overstretching their capacities.
It is in this light that he revealed that the county was having a total fertility rate of 3.6 percent a figure he warned may result in population bloom if proper family planning methods touted by National Council of Population Development (NCPD) are not embraced.
He further indicated that 59% of women were using modern family planning methods which is higher than the national rate which stands at 53%.
According to Kenya Demographic and Health of Survey (KDHS) done in 2014, 70 % of women in Kisumu County deliver live births in health facilities where they are attended to by qualified medics.
The survey also showed that out of 100,000 babies born in the county, close to 600 of the newborns die.