Provide accurate information during census - NCCE charges Ghanaians
The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has charged Ghanaians to perform their civic duty by voluntarily providing information during the 2021 Population and Housing Census.
It said as had been done in previous censuses, the 2021 Population and Housing Census data would be produced in an aggregated form that removed any personal or individual details.
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“NCCE urges the public to note that as has been done in previous censuses, the 2021 Population and Housing Census data will be produced in an aggregated form that removes any personal or individual details. The commission, therefore, encourages all persons to perform their civic duty by voluntarily providing information,” a statement signed by the Director of Communications of the NCCE, Mrs Joyce Afutu, said.
It said the information that would be provided should be based on socio-demographic characteristics (age, sex, education, ethnicity, religion etc.), literacy and education, economic activity (employment status, occupation, industry), difficulties in performing daily living activities (seeing, hearing, walking etc.), ownership and usage of ICT devices and maternal and paternal orphanage.
Rationale
It explained that the rationale for conducting periodic censuses was to update the socio-demographic, economic and housing information on Ghana and generate data that could be used for decision making by the government, State and non-State institutions, civil society organisations and development partners among others.
The statement said the strategies deployed by the NCCE in the 2021 Population and Housing Census education and sensitisation activities included media engagements (usage of community radio and community information centres and interviews), visits to churches, identifiable groups, markets, lorry stations, dawn and dusk street announcements.
It said the NCCE would continue to its nationwide office network to engage Ghanaians on the important role census data plays in the socio-economic development of the nation, and the need for citizens and residents to participate actively in order to achieve the objectives of this national exercise.
It said the Statistical Service Act, 2019 (Act 1003) mandated the government statistician to conduct statistical surveys and any census in Ghana, thus the 2021 Population and Housing Census was being conducted in accordance with law.
The law, it said, enjoined all persons to respond to census enquiries, failure of which constituted an offence and “is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not more than 200 penalty units or to a term of imprisonment of not more than 12 months or to both”.
“According to the Ghana Statistical Service, in order to meet one of the essential requirements for a modern census, all census questions were asked in reference to a date, designated as the CENSUS NIGHT. Thus, it is a reference time to which all enumeration must relate. Note that only persons alive in Ghana at midnight of this day (June 27, 2021) will be enumerated. To help make the Census Night memorable, events will be organised in communities throughout the country to mark the night,” it said.