ACCRA, GHANA – “You Count, So Be Counted,” read the signs plastered throughout the capital city. On September 26, Ghana launched its eleventh census campaign. But after more than a month of delays, material shortages, resident conflicts and logistical delays, Dr. Grace Bediako, the government statistician overseeing the census, announced last week that the count is nearly complete. The process, however, advocates charge was rife with problems and the accuracy of the numbers collected is in doubt.
Norbert Krakah, municipal statistician, told reporters in Accra last week that the exercise was 98 percent complete and said the delay was due to a shortage of materials and logistical problems. Provisional results are expected in January of 2011 and a final count that includes demographics and other population classifications is not expected until 2012.
Janet Kumi, a resident of the Accra suburb Dome, says she returned home one day to find the code PHC 00248 written in huge, white chalk letters on her brown metal gate. Kumi, like most residents in Ghana, have found the letters PHC – Population Housing Census — followed by a specific number on their homes. The mark was a sign that the household was scheduled to be counted in the 2010 census. But weeks after the count was set to be finished, residents revealed they had yet to see a census official and participate in a questionnaire.
“I have heard about the exercise and I have been waiting eagerly to be counted. But I have only seen the chalk writing on my kiosk,” Davi Addo, a resident of New Dome, told The Press Institute on October 14, four days after the scheduled completion date.
At the beginning, the census was a source of pride here. Residents say they were excited to be counted – which many said also meant they would be budgeted into the future of Ghana. But many residents in rural areas refused to be counted. Enumerators, the census employees counting residents, were often threatened thanks to what many have called a lack of public information about the census. Still, Bediako and other officials say the count was a success and are moving forward to tally the results.
Residents Disapproved of Questions; Some Refused to be Counted
Ghana conducted its first census in 1891. The last census, the country’s tenth, was completed in 2000 and revealed that 18.9 million people lived in Ghana. Today, the population is estimated to be nearly 24 million, though formal numbers will not be released until next year.
With just temporary numbers trickling in, Ghana has already revised its Gross Domestic Product, GDP. On November 5 the number was increased from 24.1 billion to 44.8 billion cedi, $31 million USD, a 60 percent increase from 1993, the last time the GDP was evaluated.
While the census figures will likely bolster Ghana’s status as a middle-income country, there are lingering concerns that some sub-groups were not properly sensitized and were likely not counted.
Though the Ghana Statistical Service employed and trained 50,000 census field officers and created 27,240 centers for the enumeration, a series of unforeseen events caused the month-long delay. Challenges included a lack of printed materials and heavy rainfall in some parts of the country, especially in the north and Volta region where many different tribes are centered. The Volta region is also known to house trafficked and bonded child laborers who were likely not counted by officials.
Beyond a basic count, the census also aims to provide increased information about population demographics and development needs. According to the Ghana Statistical Service, GSS, the full census report will include “the counting, compilation, analysis and dissemination of demographic and socio-economic statistics relating to the population.” The count seeks to provide an accurate tall of all people in terms of age, gender, education, marital status, literacy, educational background, occupation and economic activity.
Though the exercise sought to collect data on demographic and socio-economic characteristics at all levels in the country, many respondents say they complained about the nature of questions asked. Some said they were asked too many questions and others said the questions were unnecessary or inappropriate. Issifufu Ibrahim lives in Accra’s New Town neighborhood. He thought questions such as, “The number of bedrooms and the number of toilet facilities [were] not necessary.” Amariya Ibrahim says other questions violated her privacy. She says she did not want to answer questions about having dependents living abroad, in particular.
While the Ghana Statistical Law of 1985 makes protects the confidentiality of people providing information to census officials, Ibrahim says that was not explained to her. Published information on the 2010 census revealed that questions about the number of bedrooms and toilet facilities in each home were designed to enable local governments to formulate new development policies. A lack of toilet facilities has been an ongoing problem throughout the country for years.
While Ibrahim was reluctant to answer some of the enumerator’s questions, others took stronger action. According to the Ghana News Agency some census workers were threatened by residents who refused to be counted.
On October 21, Elizabeth Yeboah says she introduced herself to one man who answered the door at a home she was assigned to count. The man pulled out a locally manufactured gun and threatened to shoot her if she did not leave immediately. She says she faced many other challenges in her work including other threats and insults. “I have vowed not to be a census official again in my life even if the government promises me heaven and earth,” Yeboah told GNA.
Yeboah says many people she encountered refused to be counted as way to rebel against the government for its inability to fulfil promises to the people of Ghana, particularly the rural poor.
Census field officer Weija, who asked that his first name not be used, says the lack of cooperation among residents was the biggest challenge. He says he received reports from enumerators who were “chased out” of towns and were mistaken for thieves because people in rural areas did not receive enough education and sensitization on the census exercise. Weija, like all census employees, wore a bright blue T-shirt with ‘2010 Census Official’ written on the back and an identification card around his neck.
Peter Takya Peprah of the Population and Housing field operation unit says a sensitization program was planned for all regions and districts. Peprah says the GSS requested the assistance of all local media to help spread the word about the coming census to ensure participation.