Accra, Aug. 16, GNA - The Minister of Information, Mr John Tia Akologu, on Monday, said the success of any census, depended largely on publicity and education, which was largely the responsibility of the media.
He made the observation when launching the 2010 Housing and Population Census Media Day in Accra.
Mr Akologu said the public would have to be well informed on what the census was about, its benefits to them as individuals and the country, the kind of support required of them and when the census was taking place.
He announced that the census date was September 26, and appealed to the media to have the census messages sent to every community before the census officials reached there.
"The field data collection would start in the morning of September 27, the census officials would visit the localities the week before, to familiarize themselves with their enumeration areas and list houses and other structures that would be found within their enumeration areas."
Mr Akologu appealed to the public to give the census officials assigned to their areas the needed support by accepting them into their homes and provide them with the information required.
President of the National House of Chiefs, Wulugunaba Naa Professor John S. Nabila asked chiefs and community leaders in the country to cooperate with the enumerators to make the process successful.
"Conducting a population census in any country is a Herculean but necessary task, the 2010 Housing and Population Census would provide government, the business community, development partners and the public with credible and up-to-date data for planning and decision making."
He tasked the media to rid people of false perceptions about the process and educate them on its importance.
Dr Philomena Nyarko, Deputy Government Statistician said the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) started preparations for the conduct of the 2010 census in 2007 and the maps to be used for the exercise had been prepared while recruitment of field personnel was in progress.
"The census would span a period of about two weeks and all information collected during the period would be reference to this date."
She indicated that all census officials would be provided with identity cards, T-shirts and caps with census inscriptions to make them easily identifiable and any person who did not have these items on him or her at the time of visit cannot, therefore , be said to be a census official.
Dr Nyarko encouraged the media, community leaders, religious leaders and civil society groups to support the GSS to plan and undertake activities that would make the census a memorable one.
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