Kufuor, Mahama pledge support for 2021 Census
Ex-presidents John Mahama and John Agyekum Kufuor have highlighted the importance of a census to the nation’s development.
The two, subsequently, pledged their support for the upcoming 2021 Population and Housing Census after a delegation from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) paid a courtesy call on them.
On Tuesday, President Mahama was happy to lend his support after being involved in the past two censuses, first as the Minister of Information and then as Vice President.
He stated that the census was timely to have updated data instead of relying on projections.
He said the data should be used to target interventions such as poverty reduction and where to site public services such as hospitals and schools.
He also acknowledged that it was a positive step for Ghana to conduct a digital census because it is good to get speedy results in this digital era.
As such, he would lend his voice to publicise that the census is nonpartisan and encourage everyone to ensure that they are counted.
Also present during the courtesy call with President Mahama were the Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo; NDC Vice-Presidential candidate for the 2020 elections, Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang; and former Finance Minister Mr Seth Terkper, who also added their voices on the importance of the census and the need to depoliticise the census process.
They both called for inclusion during the process to make everyone aware of the importance of the census and to ensure that the information on the census is disseminated to all persons regardless of affiliation and the recruitment process for census officials is fair and unbiased,
President Kufuor on Thursday also welcomed the delegation.
According to him, a census is a national activity to generate data to be used to develop and determine how national resources should be allocated.
He agreed that the census is not a political activity because it helps the national plan for all categories of persons.
He advised that the engagement of the Chief Census Officer with statesmen and other leaders should confirm that the census is inclusive and nonpartisan, and all must endeavour to be counted.
He urged the Ghana Statistical Service to implement the census properly and inclusively to ensure that the exercise remains free of politics.
The GSS delegation was led by the Government Statistician and Chief Census Officer, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim, comprised of members of the GSS Governing Board and the Census Coordinating Team.
The courtesy call was to brief the former heads of states on the upcoming 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC) and elicit their support for census publicity, education, and advocacy (PEA) activities.
As parts of the census PEA strategy, the Ghana Statistical Service is enlisting the support of statesmen, political and religious leaders in the country to advocate the need to be counted.
The slogan for the 2021 PHC is ‘’you count, get counted’’ since the 2021 PHC aims for comprehensive complete coverage so that no one is left behind.
The census, a nonpartisan exercise that requires the participation of all Ghanaians, will generate data that will be used for decision-making, policy and planning for the development of the nation.