95 per cent Kenyans counted in Census, extension ruled out

Planning PS Torome Saitoti with Government Spokesperson Col. (RTD) Cyrus Oguna address the press on at KICC in Nairobi. [Edward Kiplimo, Standard]

The number of Kenyans who had been counted by yesterday morning stands at 95 per cent. Principal Secretary for State Department of Planning Saitoti Torome said they hoped to increase the percentage by close of the exercise.

Addressing the press, Torome ruled out chances of having the exercise extended as had been anticipated by those who had not been counted.

“We are hoping the remaining five per cent will be reached in the remaining time,” said Torome, a few hours before census was officially closed.

He said the enumerators were now making a final trip to areas not covered before, and in places where they had not found anyone when they visited.

His announcement came despite calls for an extension by a section of Isiolo leaders who said many residents had not yet been counted.

Torome said the census has been successful, and even security volatile areas have been effectively covered.

Government Spokesman Cyrus Oguna dismissed fears that the data could be compromised or lost before preliminary results are released.

Three months

He said they have put in place enough data protection measures to ensure safety of the collected data.

“We have three back-ups in different locations. The data is safe and we are analysing it in real time,” he said.

Oguna said they were able to analyse the received data easily due to the use of technology, and that is how they calculated the percentage of the people who have been counted even before the exercise could officially be completed.

The preliminary results of this census will be released in three months, compared to the previous ones that took close to six months. 

Commenting on the border issues that were reported to be between Machakos and Makueni where a section of people had refused to cooperate with the enumerators, Oguna said politicians should not make census to be about politics, but they should instead think of it as a planning process.