The Government Statistician, Dr Grace Bediako, has called on chiefs to use festivals, durbars, funerals and other social gatherings to encourage their subjects to participate fully in the 2010 Population and Housing Census (PHC).
She described the census as one of the key and credible sources of data collection that would be used for the planning and implementation of development programmes in the country.
Dr Bediako made the call when she interacted with members of the National House of Chiefs in Kumasi as part of ongoing awareness creation on the census, which begins at midnight of September 26, 2010.
She said the census would ensure that the nation collated authentic and credible information to facilitate accelerated national development.
Dr Bediako noted that by their position and experience, chiefs had the skills and proficiency in communicating with their subjects for them to appreciate the magnitude of the exercise and its importance for their full participation.
She explained that during such programmes, some people who did not want to participate used norms, religion and traditions, among others, as excuses, saying that all should participate, irrespective of religion, customs and traditional norms.
She also pleaded with chiefs to educate their subjects for them to refrain from erasing identification marks on walls that would be used for the enumeration of members in households and structures throughout the country.
She advised against travelling to specific places to be enumerated, saying that such actions would undermine the credibility of the exercise.
“Wherever we found ourselves on September 26, 2010 which is census night, even if at hotels, is where we would be counted,” she said.
She said the information that would be collated would not only be used to track government development initiatives, but would also be a useful data for district assemblies, the Electoral Commission and other agencies for initiating certain programmes and exercises of national importance.
Dr Bediako said it was also important for individuals to give their precise dates of birth or events close to such dates, as well as educational backgrounds, places of work and marital status, among others, to enhance the accuracy of the exercise.
She explained that inaccurate information relating to dates of birth and other relevant information sometimes affected the credibility of data collected.
Commending the Government Statistician and her team for their initiatives, the chiefs assured them of their support to make the exercise successful.
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