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Police in Oyam District, northern Uganda, have arrested 12 people over the loss of tablets and power banks used in the recently concluded National Housing and Population Survey.
Those detained include district information officers and 11 census supervisors.
They were arrested on the orders of Oyam Resident District Commissioner, Mr William Komakechi, for failing to return 40 of the 1,487 census forms issued by the government for the census.
It is also said that 144 of the 1,409 mobile batteries that were included with the tablet devices have not been returned.
Oyam District Police Commander, Edison Muhangi, said the suspects were charged with abuse of power and theft.
The case has been registered with SD Reference Number: 26/05/06/2024.
Muhangi said the suspects would be charged to court once police investigations were completed.
Oyam District Census Officer and District Planner, John Mark Agong, of Vision Group Radio Lupini The research supervisor in question returned the equipment but did not sign any paperwork to that effect.
This made it difficult to ensure all the equipment was returned, he said.
Commenting on the development, Oyam District Chairman Benson Dira said the suspects may have kept the gadgets in protest over reported delays in payment for services by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS).
Census takers taking the census. (New Vision Archive)
“99% enumeration coverage”
UBOS is the official government body responsible for coordinating, monitoring and supervising the national statistical system.
Late last month, UBOS Director-General Dr Chris Mukiza said overall coverage of the census, which began on May 10, had reached 99 per cent by the end of May 26.
The remaining percentage is due to gated residents who have no access, working single-family members and people who refuse to be surveyed, he said.
Speaking at a press conference in Kampala at the time, Mukiza said UBOS would adhere to the census roadmap approved by President Yoweri Museveni as it embarks on data processing, compilation and analysis of the raw information collected.
Provisional results for the 2024 Census are due to be released on June 24, followed by provisional results on September 24 and the final report on Christmas Eve (December 24).
UBOS will be conducting a post-census survey in July aimed at verifying the coverage and quality of data collected in this year’s census.
This is the 11th census Uganda has conducted since the first was conducted in 1948 and the sixth since independence.
In the 1969 census, Uganda’s population was 9.5 million, but in the 2014 census it had increased to 34.8 million.
According to estimates released last December, Uganda’s population is 46 million.