Kenya set for first nationwide paperless census

Kenya is set to undertake its first paperless national population census scheduled to take place on August 24-31, 2019.

The sixth census since Kenya attained independence and the first under the new constitution, the exercise will see enumerators capture all the required data electronically through a tablet. The data will then be transmitted to a central database.

The census will focus on eight key areas including population characteristics, labor force, education, housing conditions and amenities, disability, ICT, household assets and agriculture.

Speaking during the official launch of the countdown on Friday, Uhuru Kenyatta, the president of Kenya, said the country is one of the few African countries that have undertaken the census every 10 years without fail as recommended by the United Nations.

"We do this because we know that census data is an important tool for gathering information necessary for effective planning and monitoring of development in our country," he said.

Kenyatta said the collected data from the exercise would enable the national government to gauge its delivery record on the development agenda.

The data will also help the government in achieving equitable resource allocation across the 47 devolved counties as well as for delineation of boundaries at constituency and ward levels.

"The collected data will enable the government to measure the social-economic status of our nation and to receive the invaluable input necessary for charting the roadmap for the next step of our journey to achieving Vision 2030," he said.

Kenyatta said the government is committed to evidence-based planning and decision making across all the spheres of the national development.

The president called on the Kenyans to cooperate with the enumerators, who he said will be accompanied by uniformed security officers and community elders and leaders of residents associations.

"In the spirit of leaving no-one behind, for the first time in Kenyan history, the census will feature a detailed focus on data of disadvantaged members of society; people living with disabilities, the orphaned and vulnerable children, the elderly and street children," he said.

Kenyatta said special measures had been put in place to ensure pastoral communities and those working in emergency sectors such as hospitals as well as those in aviation sector are enumerated.

The president called on leaders and stakeholders to encourage the public to participate in the exercise.

"I urge all political and religious leaders, the business community, the media and civil societies to use their platforms to encourage all persons within their spheres to cooperate fully to ensure the census is a success," Uhuru said.

Kenyatta said a team of 2,467 ICT supervisors, 22,268 content supervisors and 138,372 enumerators will be deployed across the country to undertake the exercise.

Ukur Yattani, the acting cabinet secretary at the National Treasury and Planning, said the necessary materials and equipment for the census exercise had been delivered to the various counties and sub-counties in readiness for the census day.

"Over the remaining days, we shall scale-up publicity and advocacy campaigns to ensure that Kenyans have the necessary information regarding the count. We will also collaborate with all our partners and relevant government agencies for the smooth management and delivery of credible census," he said.