Chereponi, Saboba District Census Implementation Committees inaugurated

Chereponi/Saboba (N/R), July 18, GNA - Dr. Grace Bediako, the Government Statistician, has inaugurated the Chereponi and Saboba District Census Implementation Committees. She charged the members to work diligently to avoid any lapse likely to impact negatively on the nationwide 2010 Population and Housing Census (PHC).

The committees are made up of instructional representation, comprising ministries, departments and agencies and traditional councils and Chereponi District committee has 11 members and Saboba District Commieette has 11 members.

Dr Bediako told the members of the committees that the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), was determined to leave a legacy by committing itself to conducting the best yet nationwide census "not only for Ghana but for the ECOWAS region and for Africa". The district committees would assist the GSS to conduct a trial census in October, this year, in preparation for the 2010 PHC. They would do this through census publicity and education, facilitating recruitment and training of field personnel, supervision of census field personnel and reporting and giving a feedback to the GSS, among other functions.

Chereponi and Saboba Districts, all in the Northern Region, have been selected among three others and Sene in the Brong Ahafo Region, Awutu-Senya in the Central Region and Bia in the Western Region, are yet to be inaugurated.

The selection of the five districts was based on the GSS criteria that while the areas fall within the savannah, forest and coastal ecological zones; some are fast-growing while others are difficult to access (overseas areas).

Dr Bediako stressed the importance of census as a tool for development, saying census was essential to achieving development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and poverty reduction. She said it also provides, for instance, data to assess adequacy of housing and related infrastructure across the entire country and data planners need to facilitate the national development agenda. Dr Bediako explained that as Government Statistician, she was mandated by the 1992 Constitution to conduct a nationwide census every ten years, adding that she was fulfilling a constitutional obligation by conducting the 2010 PHC.

She said financial outlay for the 2010 PHC was about 50 million dollars and gave Ghana's current population as nearly 25 million people. Earlier two members of the National Census Coordinating Team had taken members of the two district committees through a presentation on the 2010 Population and Housing Census and the role they are expected to play in the trial census.

They told the members that the 2010 PHC would be based on questionnaire covering eight broad areas.

These are: Geographic and internal migration characteristics; demographic and social characteristics; educational characteristics; economic characteristics; disability; ICT; agriculture housing characteristics and community facilities.