You Count, Get Counted …Akufo-Addo Tells Ghanaians
President Nana Akufo-Addo has made a plea to all persons within the territorial boundaries of the Republic of Ghana to cooperate fully with enumerators and officials of the ongoing 2021 Population and Housing Census (2021 PHC).
“I want to encourage everybody to participate in this exercise to make sure that we have all the information that the census is meant to provide. It is not by accident that every ten years, the United Nations and global bodies responsible for population have insisted that every nation should count its population, should count the number of people who are present so they provide those of us who have the responsibility of taking decisions on behalf of our fellow citizens the wherewithal, the means, the data, that enables us to plan effectively for the development of the country”, Nana Akufo-Addo noted.
The President made the statement on Monday, June 28, 2021, when officials of the Ghana Statistical Service, led by the Government Statistician, Prof. Samuel Kobina Annim, were at the Villa of Jubilee House to enumerate members of his household to kick start the 2021 PHC.
Nana Akufo-Addo further noted that: “It is extremely important that each and every one of us; everybody who was here on Census night, that is the 27th of June, no matter where you come from, no matter your ethnic origin, no matter your religious persuasion, no matter your political affiliation, so long as you are a human being who was here in Ghana on Census night, you are entitled to be counted.
“It is an extremely important exercise and I am appealing to everyone to cooperate with the enumerators, cooperate with the census officials; they are doing an exceptionally important and sensitive job and they need the cooperation of each and every one of us”, the President added.
The Government Statistician, Prof. Samuel Kobina Annim, on his part, said they started the 2021 PHC from the household of the President so as to whip up participation for the activity.
Prof. Kobina Annim said the census information will be used for only statistical purposes and is not to be used for identifying people or group of persons for taxation or punitive purposes.
He said the PHC provides an opportunity to the country to update its records on demographic characteristics, economic activity, housing, sanitation and selected areas like persons with a difficulty in performing activities, ICT and economic activities around the issues of employment and unemployment.
“There is confidentiality and the assurance to providers of information that the information given is only for statistical purposes and the census officials are not going to identify individuals. This is in reference to the Statistical Service Act 1003 that was passed in 2019, specifically clause 15 talks about confidentiality so the information gathered would not be used for targeting individuals or specific group of people” Prof. Kobina Annim noted.
He added: “It is only going to be used at the aggregated level. The data that would be put out for further analytical work would de-identify all the personal information in there and for that matter, would be an anonymised data.”
The Vice President, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia and his household as well as the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin and his household were all enumerated Monday morning.
What is Census?
A Population Census is the official enumeration of all persons in a country at a specified time. The enumeration also implies the collection, compilation, evaluation, analysis, publication and dissemination of demographic, social and economic statistics relating to the population.
Ghana has conducted five post-independent population censuses in 1960, 1970, 1984, 2000 and 2010 with the last two consisting of both a population census and a housing census making the 2021 PHC the third Population and Housing Census to be conducted in Ghana. The 2021 PHC is designed to generate statistics that are essential for policy and planning purposes. It is therefore of the greatest importance to every person living in Ghana.
