By Leonard Kamugisha Akida,
KAMPALA
The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) is calling for a recount of the National Census due to inaccuracies contained in the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) census 2024 report.
FDC believes, in order to secure a verifiable, accurate, fair Census report, Redoing the census may be a drastic but necessary measure to ensure accurate data.
On Thursday last week, (October 3), UBOS officially released the National Population and Housing Census 2024, report in which they indicated a drop in the population of Acholi and Bugisu sub-region. According to the report, the population of Uganda is estimated at 45.9 million people.
However, results of this report have been outrightly rejected by Ugandans many of whom are from the areas which allegedly dropped significantly over the last decade.
Walid Mulindwa Lubega, Deputy Secretary of Publicity in charge Publication and Documentation at FDC says the current results are unreliable and may have been manipulated. He called for a complete redo of the census pointing out inconsistencies in the census data.
“Uganda Bureau of Statistics[UBOS] wrongly showed the population of the Acholi subregion dropping from 2,131,443 to 1,941,913 while the Bagisu population fell from 2,390,975 to 2,096,149. The Census numbers failed to make sense,” Lubega said, questioning whether there had been a drastic event in those regions to explain the decline.
According to Lubega, the census exercise was marred by shortcomings, including inadequate training for enumerators, who struggled to understand census data, methodology, and data collection procedures.
“The enumerators didn’t understand the census data, methodology, questionnaires, or data collection procedures. They also struggled to operate the electronic tablets used for recording information, and no manual backup system was in place.”
He argued that this lack of capacity building led to many individuals not being counted, impacting the accuracy and reliability of the census data
UBOS Executive Director Chris Mukiza recently apologized for the conflicting census results, specifically in the Acholi and Bugisu sub-regions, where the reported population declines over the past decade raised alarm.
But, the FDC insists that redoing the census is the only way to ensure that Uganda’s data is accurate and reliable. They argue that without an accurate count, crucial decisions on resource allocation, planning, and governance will be undermined. The party believes a redo will help achieve three key goals: ensuring accurate data for informed decision-making, restoring credibility to UBOS and its statistical outputs, and improving resource allocation and planning for the country’s future.
“The statistics were computer generated and didn’t represent the real picture on the ground,” Lubega said, urging the government and UBOS to review the census methodology and provide clear explanations to address the discrepancies in the reported figures.
Parrots Media has learned that UBOS retracted the report (National Census 2024, report) from their website after several accusations of false census figures from the general public.
