Census: 83 percent of households so far counted, says govt

Counting in the ongoing national census has so far reached 83.2 percent of the people targeted according to the government.

Dr Chris Mukiza, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) says they had targeted to cover 10.5 million households using projections from the previous census (2014) and that they have so far now reached eight million households.

"As of today, we are at 83.2 percent (or slightly over 8 million households), " he said.

According to him, they have been counting slightly over one million people every day since they started the exercise which puts them on track to hit their target over the 10-day period they allocated themselves for the census.

"From Thursday, it has been 1.1 million households every day, which means we are moving as expected. Today is the ninth day, and we are remaining with less than two million households from our target," he said.

He spoke on May 18, 2024, at a local radio talk show to give an update on the census exercise.

The exercise started on May 10 and was expected to end on Sunday, May 19, during which period data about social demographic characteristics and various other factors will have been collected for planning purposes.

Speaking at the event, Mukiza said they have generally noted an overwhelming desire by Ugandans to be counted, notwithstanding a few cases from some religious cult groups that have opposed being counted.

During the event, the UBOS boss said they have also faced other challenges including limited financial resources "but we have cut our cloth according to our coat.”