President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has today received the preliminary results of the 2024 National Population and Housing Census at a function held at Kampala. He congratulated the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) for conducting a successful exercise and commended Ugandans for embracing the census.
“I also congratulate Ugandans for listening to our advice and embracing our programs, and you can see things are beginning to work out,” said President Museveni. He noted that although the census figures are still preliminary, they validate the National Resistance Movement (NRM) strategy.
The President recalled past controversies regarding population control, stating, “Some groups wanted to castrate people to control the population, but the NRM emphasized that the issues of large families are medical and socio-economic. We insisted on reliable medical services and socio-economic development. With universal immunization, life expectancy has increased to 63 percent, and more people are joining the money economy.”
President Museveni urged Ugandans to discard old superstitions about counting children, which many believed brought bad luck. He emphasized that what was once considered witchcraft is now scientifically explained and that societal change and new ideas are essential.
The Minister of State for Planning, Hon. Amos Lugoloobi, thanked President Museveni for championing the National Digital Census. “We pray that the government embraces digitizing service delivery across government to get real-time results,” he stressed.
Dr. Albert Byamugisha, UBOS Board of Directors Chairperson, credited the census’s success to the cooperation of Ugandans and the government’s prioritization and resource allocation. “Ugandans were vigilant and involved local council leaders to ensure they were enumerated,” he noted.
Dr. Chris Mukiza, Executive Director of UBOS, informed the President that 135,230 field workers, 14,669 enumeration supervisors, and 4,715 subcounty/division supervisors conducted the census. He revealed Uganda’s population has grown to 45,935,046 from 34.6 million in 2014, including 780,061 refugees.
“We faced challenges such as hard-to-reach areas, inaccessible households, refusals by some religious cults, internal border conflicts, and unavailable respondents,” Dr. Mukiza said. He encouraged the government, private sector, and leaders to use the census data for planning and improving Ugandans’ livelihoods.
The 2024 National Population and Housing Census was conducted electronically from May 9-19, with a mopping-up exercise until May 26 to ensure complete coverage in the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area and hard-to-reach districts.
Post Views: 1,003
https://plusnews.ug/president-museveni-receives-preliminary-results-of-2024-national-population-and-housing-census/
