A census enumerator interfacing with some citizens
The Ghana Statistical Service has enumerated more than 90 per cent of residents in the Ashanti Region in the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC).
Dr Kobina Abaka Ansah, the Regional Statistician, said over six million people were expected to be counted by the close of the ongoing mop-up exercise, which commenced on Monday, July 12.
The Region recorded a population of more than four million in the last Census.
Dr Abaka Ansah, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Kumasi, said a chunk of the job at hand had been executed and that the mop-up exercise was to capture unreached areas and those yet to be enumerated.
More than 13,000 Field Officers had been engaged for the Census, an exercise by the government to build a credible data base to inform planning and development.
The Regional Statistician said in spite of the reported cases of manhandling of some of the officers, the participation of the public had been encouraging.
The GSS was anticipating a successful census, he said, urging all and sundry to ensure that they gave out accurate information to the enumerators.
Ghana has conducted five censuses since 1960, with the others being 1970, 1984, 2000 and 2010.
Dr Abaka Ansah said it was important the nation undertook, conscientiously, the age-long recommendation of a decennial PHC without any gaps.
Therefore, the GSS was determined not to leave anyone out in the counting, he said.
This year’s PHC is intended to provide the basis in using administrative data to track the national, regional and global development agenda, including the Africa Agenda 2063 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).