Zim begins national population count

Harare (New Ziana) – The 2022 national population census kicks off on Thursday, with Wednesday being used as the reference night for enumerating all individuals who would have spent the census night either in a collective institution or a particular household, the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat)has said.

According to Zimstat, Wednesday, 20 April 2022 was declared the census night and will be the reference point for enumeration.

This means that enumerators will ask for information relating to persons who would have spent the census night in a respective household or collective institution.

Zimstat director general Taguma Mahonde said during the enumeration exercise, running from April 21 to 30, Zimstat enumerators will visit all households and institutions across the country asking questions pertaining to social-economic and demographic characteristics of households.

“Important to note is that all individuals who will have spent the census night in hotels, lodges, hospitals, police stations, prisons and other collective institutions, shall be enumerated on the census night, including the transit and other floating population,” he said.

“In undertaking the exercise, enumerators will direct questions to heads of households or their designated representatives with all information relating to persons who spent the census night in the household.

“Though household composition may change between the census night and time when enumerators visit your households, you are encouraged to take note of individuals who were present during the night of Wednesday 20 April.”

Mahonde encouraged the public to cooperate with census officials, highlighting that in line with census and statistics Act (Chapter 10:29), all information collected during the Population Housing Census; enumeration exercise is confidential and will be used for statistical purposes only.

Launching the 50 day countdown to the 2022 census last month, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the exercise would be unique as it will, for the first time, capture data on the population’s living conditions, and access to basic needs such as water and electricity.

The census, whose preliminary results will be released within three months, will also canvass other crucial statistics such as emigration, level of education, and literacy.

Last week, Cabinet directed the closure of all institutions of Higher and Tertiary Education to allow students to be enumerated in their actual households during the census.

“To avoid collective or institutional households, Cabinet advises the nation that all institutions of higher learning will be closed from 18 to 30 April, 2022. Closure of the institutions will pave way for the enumeration of students in their usual households,” Cabinet said last week.

The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency has recruited a total of 40 500 enumerators from across the country’s 10 provinces to conduct the 2022 population and housing census.

The bulk of the personnel is drawn from the teaching fraternity, youth and other civil servants from the security sector.
New Ziana