District assemblies asked to prioritise census report

Mr Kojo Bonsu, Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), has underlined the need for the district assemblies to pay attention to the population and housing census report.

This, he said is necessary to aid effective and meaningful economic policy planning and decisions.

He was speaking at a meeting in Kumasi to disseminate the 2010 census report.

It provided the platform for directors of institutions, heads of department and assembly members to discuss the socio-economic dimensions of the demographic variables and their implications for policy formulation, planning and implementation by the assembly.

The population and housing census is held once in every 10 years but Mr Bonsu said the nation should consider doing it twice in the space of a decade.

The MCE hailed the report, saying it was timely and appropriate and would serve as a vital data for proper planning, management, equitable distribution of resources and government services.

Mr Joshua Nii Noiye Teteh-Nortey, Metropolitan Planning Officer, said 8.6 per cent of the economic active population of 91.4 per cent of Kumasi is unemployed.

He said 38.9 per cent of those employed are engaged as sales and service workers while those in the craft and other related trades form 22.8 per cent.

People with physical disabilities constitute 2.3 per cent of population with females dominating the pack, with sight impairment as the most common disability.

Mr Emmanuel George Ossei, Head of Governance and Human Development Section of the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), took the participants through the methodology for the census report and said copies had been printed and distributed to the 216 district assemblies.

He said the GSS has trained personnel working in the districts on the interpretation and use of the census data for effective planning, evaluation and monitoring of projects and programmes.