As we may all have been made aware, the government is conducting a census in the coming days in neighbourhoods, communities, districts, constituencies and regions all over the country.
The essence of a census, as we may also be aware, is to find out who and who are living in the country; where we can find them; what they do; who their kids are; and what their felt needs, among other issues.
To prepare the grounds for the census proper, structures, including houses, shops and stores, had been counted from June 13, with the census itself beginning on June 27 night into July 11. Also to be counted are institutions, including businesses.
Public accounting
A census is not only about knowing who live in a country and what its citizens do, but it is also, more importantly, about planning for citizens in every nook and cranny of the country.
When we do our national duty of voting, for instance, it is based on expectations that we have from the government and how those expectations enable us aspire to become what we want to become or find fulfilment as human beings who have needs.
It is also a way of the government showing that it has a responsibility to the people to do ‘A, B, C or D’ by way of projects and programmes that impact all citizens across board and indiscriminately.
Checking deficits
A census, therefore, would enable the government have a fair idea about how many ‘schools under trees’ we still have, or which communities in the Savannah region lack lavatory facilities and are afflicted with the social disease called open defecation.
It may give us signals about whether to spend our scarce resources importing rice, chicken and tooth-picks or invest those resources in training our graduates in agriculture to set up poultry farms or produce tooth-picks from our large stock of palm fronds on large plantations in the eastern regions, forest belts and the middle belt.
Youth in the centre
Particularly for our teeming youth who are predominantly interested in finding gainful employment or accessing tertiary training, this is an opportunity for them to avail themselves at the right points to be counted.
That also goes for school dropouts as well as those fortunate or serious enough to have made good grades to qualify them for the several training programmes that add value to their classroom experience.
From our hawkers and plastic and metal scavengers to kayayei, the census has something good for everyone, regardless of where he or she sleeps or hail from. Even for those who live off the streets, the census is key to being recognised as a citizen with dignity, name and face.
Digitisation
Even more importantly, the census will add notches to the digitisation of our systems and putting names and faces to homes, schools and businesses.
Again, the census is important in knowing the size of our working population, and how we can empower the informal economy through social protection programmes to enjoy the benefits of formalisation that so many millions of Ghanaians are missing because they are lost in the crowd.
In essence, the upcoming census is a very important exercise that all residents in the country must support and take part to ensure its success.
About The Author
