Govt Sets Aside $9 Billion For National Census
The Government has set aside ZWL$9 billion for the population and housing census to be conducted from 21 April to 30 April 2022.
Addressing a press conference in Harare this Wednesday, Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube said a pre-census test will be conducted at the end of this year and the end of January next year.
He said preliminary results of the census would be published on the 1st of August 2022 followed by the national results, at the end of November 2022, same as the provincial results.
Ncube revealed that 85 % of the country had been mapped so far, with Bulawayo, Harare and Mashonaland Central having seen 100% mapping.
The other seven provinces are expected to have been mapped by January 2022. Said Ncube:
Basically, we have budgeted about USD$85 million and at the current exchange rate, we are looking at about $9 billion to get this whole exercise done.
In 2019, the government said it had set aside US$85 million to prepare for the 2022 population census.
Ncube also said tablets instead of the paper system will be used, with 51 000 tablets for 51 000 enumerators set to be acquired before year-end.
Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) Director-General, Taguma Mahonde said the use of electronic devices would enhance efficiency through the newly developed system.
The use of tablets will also help to collect meaningful data and reduce the time of editing as it would be done during data collection. Said Mahonde:
A software has been developed to ensure that these tablets are used well and that if stolen they can be quickly recovered.
The enumerators have been trained to avoid cases of theft to these tablets.
The census will be Zimbabwe’s fifth since independence in 1980.
The country has held censuses in 1982, 1992, 2002 and 2012.
At the last census in 2012, the country’s population was projected at 13.3 million.
