Census hours extended to day time in major towns

The census hours have now been extended in major towns in a review that will see the exercise run during the day up to 10pm.

The extension comes amid reports that Kenyans were concerned about the pace of the exercise that they said was hurting their businesses.

Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho said Monday that the hours had been extended from the previous 6pm-6am to instead run from 6am to 10pm in Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru and Kisumu.

Other towns within the country where working hours have been extended are Eldoret, Nyeri, Kiambu, Thika, Machakos, Kakamega and Kisii.

The census has also been marred by attacks on officials in certain areas.

“We acknowledge that Day Two saw an improved pace from Day One and we know many Kenyans are yet to be visited. We are, therefore, extending census working hours from 6.00am-10.00pm to capture as many people as possible,” said Dr Kibicho.

The count that kicked off on Saturday night will be the sixth since Kenya’s Independence and the eighth since the first in 1948.

It is the first one to be conducted using tablets installed with a tracking software, questionnaires and area maps, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the agency charged with carrying out the census.

All persons who will be within Kenya’s borders on census night (August 24/25) will be counted.

This includes people found at home, travellers, individuals in hotels and lodges and institutions such as hospitals and prisons.

Counting continues up to August 31 at a cost of Sh18.5 billion with temporary staff being paid Sh4 billion.

This is an increase of Sh10 billion from the last census conducted in 2009.

The survey is being conducted with 170,000 enumerators, 27,000 supervisors and 2,700 ICT supervisors.

Preliminary results for this census are expected to be ready in November, while the detailed data will be released by February.