President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged all Ghanaians, irrespective of their political affiliation or religion, to take part in the ongoing national population census, which officially commenced on Sunday night, and is expected to last for two weeks.
“It is extremely important that each and every one of us – everybody who was here on Census Night, i.e., the 27 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 last night, the census night, you are entitled to be counted. And that is the exercise the Ghana Statistical Service embarked on and has begun,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo gave this advice yesterday when he received a team from the Ghana Statistical Service, at the Jubilee House, led by the Government Statistician, Samuel Kobina Annim, who were there to count him as part of the ongoing exercise.
Thanking the team for the visit, the President said the process of enumeration or counting Ghanaians is a very important exercise, stressing: “It is important for everybody in Ghana”.
Confidentiality
He further said he had been assured by officials of the Ghana Statistical Service that information collected will be treated in a confidential manner.
“The Act under which they are operating insists on that, and I have no doubt about the integrity and credibility of those who are conducting this census, that they will keep to the provisions of the Act. I want to encourage everybody to participate in this exercise to make sure we have all the information the census is meant to provide,” he said.
According to President Akufo-Addo, it is not by accident that, every ten years, the United Nations and global bodies responsible for population insist on nations having their citizens counted, stressing that it is important to aid development.
“So, it is an extremely important exercise, and I am appealing to each one of us to cooperate with the enumerators, cooperate with the census officials. They are doing an important and sensitive job, and they need the cooperation of each one of us. Let us have a successful 2020/2021 census, which will provide us with the information we need,” he said.
Veep
Taking his turn to be enumerated at home, Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia urged all residents of Ghana to cooperate with census enumerators and their field officers.
He also urged respondents to provide accurate information to the enumerators to ensure a compilation of accurate data to inform policy formulation and planning for the country’s development.
“The benefits to be derived from the census data is enormous, and the outcomes of the census exercise will guide our development plans, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and reporting, particularly with African Union’s Agenda 2063, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), i.e. Agenda 2030 and National development agenda.
“Therefore, I call on everybody not only to be part of the exercise, but also provide a more credible and quality data for our dear country and make use of the Census call centre to ensure that all persons are counted,” he said.
Civic responsibility
Reminding the country that the census is “both a legal obligation and a civic responsibility”, the Vice-President urged persons who have either refused to provide responses, or requested payment from census enumerators to avail themselves, to refrain from demanding money or other favours before providing the required information.
“The census is an inclusive, non-discriminatory, non-partisan, national activity, and I urge all persons in Ghana, including non-nationals to fully participate in this important activity by presenting themselves and their families to be counted appropriately.
“The census aims at achieving complete coverage and quality data. The objective of complete coverage, aligns perfectly with the “Leave No One Behind” agenda of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To this end, the cooperation of all the populace is paramount,” Dr Bawumia said.
