Rundu Rural Constituency councillor Paulus Mbangu has said for the past 33 years, the population and housing census has not helped the two Kavango regions in any way in terms of planning or resource allocation by the government.

Mbangu made the statement here on Monday during a meeting held by the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) at the governor’s office to update the regional leadership and stakeholders on the 2023 Population and Housing Census taking place in August this year.

“For us leaders in this region, we are aware that data is important for planning but for the past 33 years, the scientific evidence of the census has not helped the two regions in any way,” Mbangu said.

The councillor said in 1991, 1993 and 1994 the National Planning Commission carried out the population and housing census as well as the income and expenditure surveys, with both indicating that the Kavango regions are the poorest in Namibia, but the budget allocation from government was contrary to those statistics.

‘If the result of the census does not even inform our own government, why do we conduct the census?’ he asked.

Mbangu said if the results of the next census do not influence the budget allocation, the public will lose interest in government and the NSA as well.

NSA Executive of Economic Statistics, Abel Sindano, said the role of the NSA is to produce official statistics not for themselves, but to inform policy makers to ensure that they base their decisions on the results.

He said he agrees that there has to be emphasis on using statistics for planning.

Sindano also said the NSA will recruit around 13 000 Namibians to carry out the exercise.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency